A Mississippi podiatrist was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for his role in defrauding Medicare and the military insurer Tricare by prescribing and dispensing medically unnecessary foot bath medications.
Federal prosecutors said Dr. Marion Shaun Lund, 54, of Batesville, also ordered medically unnecessary testing of toenails in exchange for kickbacks and bribes.
On Feb. 2, Lund pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Glen Davidson sentenced Lund to two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $851,428 in restitution.
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Court documents show Lund owned and operated a podiatry clinic and an in-house pharmacy. From April 2020 through March 2022, Lund caused submission of more than $1.4 million in claims to Medicare and Tricare for unnecessary prescriptions of foot bath medications and diagnostic testing of toenails, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Prosecutors said that resulted in more than $700,000 in reimbursements and Lund was paid cash kickbacks by a purported marketer in exchange for his prescriptions and orders.
Lund is the fourth defendant, including three medical professionals, to plead guilty and be sentenced in the scheme.