Overview

• Michael Kestner, CEO of Pain MD, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for healthcare fraud after being convicted of 13 felonies in October 2024.
• Federal prosecutors had sought a nearly 20-year prison term, but the sentence was reduced due to Kestner's age, medical conditions, and concerns about prison healthcare quality.
• Pain MD operated up to 20 clinics across Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, administering unnecessary spinal injections alongside opioid prescriptions.
• The fraudulent injections, proven to be ineffective and sometimes harmful, defrauded Medicare and insurers of millions of dollars over nearly a decade.
• Former patients testified they endured the injections out of fear of losing access to opioids, with some suffering severe pain and long-term harm.