All Federal Anti-Kickback Charges Against BKLW Client Dismissed

Fri 6th Jan 2023, Blog, Case Successes

After nearly a year and a half of contested litigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California abruptly moved to dismiss all criminal charges against BKLW’s client, a prominent pain management physician from the Washington, D.C. area. U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton signed the dismissal order the next day, ending a painful ordeal for the client and his family.

“This misguided prosecution should never have been brought in the first place. It caused unjustified suffering to a well-respected doctor and his family,” said BKLW Partner John Littrell.

The U.S. Attorney charged BKLW’s client in July 2021, along with three other pain management physicians and four former executives of a genetic testing company, with a conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”). The indictment accused BKLW’s client of soliciting bribes in exchange for ordering genetic tests offered by an Orange County-based biosciences lab.

BKLW’s investigation exposed the false assumptions underlying the government’s case and helped reveal serious errors by the U.S. Attorney’s prosecution team that surfaced in the weeks before trial was to begin.

“The BKLW team and all defense counsel worked relentlessly to expose the weaknesses and errors that pervaded the government’s case from the get-go,” said BKLW attorney Alexis Federico. “It was an honor to work together with some of the most accomplished white collar defense lawyers in the business; each firm was essential to getting this result.”

This exceptional outcome was the culmination of skilled advocacy by BKLW Partners John L. Littrell and Thomas H. Bienert, Jr., and relentless pressure from BKLW’s accomplished trial team, led by trial attorneys Alexis Paschedag Federico and Sandra C. Lechman and litigation paralegals Toni Thomas and Garrison Giali.

BKLW specializes in white-collar criminal defense and investigations, complex civil ligation, and bankruptcy and insolvency matters. The firm’s trial results include both complete defense verdicts and multi-million dollar plaintiff victories. In cases resolved short of trial, the firm has secured numerous dismissals in defense cases and settlements in plaintiff cases totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars.