KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Friday, a medical doctor from the Kansas City, Kansas, area admitted to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to order medically unnecessary health care for thousands of patients. Dr. Scott Taggart Roethle, 47, pleaded guilty to health care fraud in the U .S. District Court in St. Louis. He admitted that from 2017 until 2020, he conspired with health care companies and others to order medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, pain creams and genetic tests for thousands of patients in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks. Dr. Roethle contracted with multiple health care companies as a telemedicine doctor. He ordered health care services for patients without evaluating them or their actual medical needs. Roethle did not have a prior doctor-patient relationship with the telemedicine patients and admitted that he provided no follow-up care after ordering the health care services. Dr. Roethle was typically paid about $30 for each of his fraudulent orders. He admitted to receiving payments of $674,000 from five companies. He also admitted that Medicare paid out at least $1.5 million while relying on his fraudulent orders. The U.S. Attorney's Office believes that the total loss due to the health care fraud is between $7 million and $9.5 million. Dr. Roethle was licensed to practice in 22 states during the time of his crime and worked primarily as an anesthesiologist. His sentencing is set for July 17. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General and the FBI investigated the case. ...read more read less