Jury Acquits Surgeon on Kickback Charges

A federal jury in Southern California acquitted Dr. Serge Obukhoff on all 35 counts of conspiracy and health care fraud in a 2018 indictment alleging that the neurosurgeon accepted kickbacks related to spinal surgeries performed on work comp patients at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach. Obukhoff was accused of accepting $2.3 million in kickbacks to refer patients to Pacific Hospital, as well as receiving free rent and a paid medical directorship to oversee spinal surgeries to Monrovia Hospital, according to a statement released by his lawyers. A jury found him not guilty on all counts in ...