An Alabama-based physician received a 16-month prison sentence for signing off on medically unnecessary genetic tests and durable medical equipment orders, resulting in millions in false Medicare claims.
An Alabama-based physician has been sentenced to more than a year in federal prison for his role in a $2.7 million health care fraud scheme that exploited telemedicine platforms to generate medically unnecessary genetic testing and durable medical equipment (DME) orders billed to Medicare.
Tommie Robinson, 44, was sentenced on March 20, 2026, by US Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 16 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. Robinson was also ordered to pay $2,784,733.49 in restitution. He had pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of health care fraud after being charged in August 2025, according to the US Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts.
How the Scheme Operated
Between December 2018 and March 2021, Robinson worked with telemedicine companies to sign pre-populated medical documentation—including physicians’ orders—for DME and genetic testing. The orders were generated based on telemarketing calls made to Medicare beneficiaries, and Robinson generally had no direct contact with, nor an established provider-patient relationship with, those beneficiaries, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
The genetic tests at the center of the scheme were designed to detect mutations in genes associated with elevated cancer risk. DME suppliers and laboratories then submitted claims to Medicare based on Robinson’s signed orders, resulting in more than $2.7 million in claims for services deemed medically unnecessary and based on false documentation, per the US Attorney’s Office.
Laboratories that submitted claims based on Robinson’s falsified orders were part of the billing chain that triggered the federal investigation.
The case was investigated by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Division, the US Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division, the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the US Department of Labor, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s Northeast Field Office, according to the US Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by assistant US attorneys Alexandra Brazier and Lindsey Ross of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit.
ID 30938942 © Derek Phillips | Dreamstime.com
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