A former New York physician has been sentenced in Boston federal court for accepting kickbacks in return for ordering unnecessary brain scans.
Dr. Kenneth Fishberger, 76, from East Setauket, New York, received his sentence on December 9, 2025, from U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton. The sentence includes two years of supervised release, with one year to be served under home confinement and location monitoring. He must also pay a $50,000 fine, forfeit $48,000, and pay restitution totaling $342,876.
Fishberger pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
According to prosecutors, Fishberger worked as an internist on Long Island for about 47 years. Between June 2013 and December 2019, he conspired with others—including a principal at a mobile medical diagnostics company—to order hundreds of transcranial doppler (TCD) scans that were not medically necessary. TCD scans are used to measure blood flow in the brain.
The government said Fishberger and his co-conspirators provided false diagnoses so that unnecessary scans could be ordered. Claims were then submitted to Medicare and private insurers by a co-conspirator on behalf of the diagnostic company. In exchange for each test ordered, Fishberger received approximately $100 in cash kickbacks. The fraudulent scheme led to roughly $891,978 in bills submitted to Medicare and private insurance companies.
“United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, Boston Field Office; Kelly M. Lawson, Acting Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office; Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office made the announcement.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie Queenin prosecuted the case as Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit.
