Biotronik Inc. to Pay $4.9 Million to Resolve False Claims that Company Paid Kickbacks to Physicians
Qui Tam Whistleblower to RECEIVE $840,000
Seattle Whistleblower Attorneys report that Biotronik Inc. of Lake Oswego, Oregon, agreed to pay the United
States $4.9 million to resolve allegations made under the False Claims
Act that the company made various improper payments to induce physicians
to use devices that it manufactured and sold.
“When medical device manufacturers make improper payments to
physicians, they encourage medical decision-making based on financial
gain rather than the best interests of patients,” said Acting Assistant
Attorney General Joyce R. Branda for the Justice Department’s Civil
Division. “Today’s resolution demonstrates the Department of Justice’s
continuing commitment to ensuring that beneficiaries of federal health
care programs receive appropriate medical care.”
The settlement resolves False Claims Act allegations that Biotronik, through the payment of kickbacks to physicians, caused hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to submit false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for the implantation of Biotronik pacemakers, defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. Biotronik allegedly induced electrophysiologists and cardiologists practicing in Nevada and Arizona to continue using Biotronik devices, or to convert to Biotronik devices, by paying the implanting physician in the form of repeated meals at expensive restaurants and inflated payments for membership on a physician advisory board.
“Today’s resolution of claims underscores one of the key purposes of the Anti-Kickback law – to ensure that the judgment exercised by health care providers in treating Medicare and Medicaid patients is not influenced by illegal payments,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner for the Eastern District of California.
The settlement stems from a qui tam whistleblower complaint filed by a former Biotronik employee, Brian Sant, pursuant to the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private persons to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States and to share in the proceeds of the suit. The act permits the United States to intervene and take over the lawsuit, as it did in this case as to some of Sant’s allegations. The qui tam whistleblower will receive approximately $840,000 of the federal settlement.
The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Sant v. Biotronik, Inc., No. 2:09-CV-03617 KJM EFB (E.D. Cal.). The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Source: Dept. of Justice
The settlement resolves False Claims Act allegations that Biotronik, through the payment of kickbacks to physicians, caused hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to submit false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for the implantation of Biotronik pacemakers, defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. Biotronik allegedly induced electrophysiologists and cardiologists practicing in Nevada and Arizona to continue using Biotronik devices, or to convert to Biotronik devices, by paying the implanting physician in the form of repeated meals at expensive restaurants and inflated payments for membership on a physician advisory board.
“Today’s resolution of claims underscores one of the key purposes of the Anti-Kickback law – to ensure that the judgment exercised by health care providers in treating Medicare and Medicaid patients is not influenced by illegal payments,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner for the Eastern District of California.
The settlement stems from a qui tam whistleblower complaint filed by a former Biotronik employee, Brian Sant, pursuant to the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private persons to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States and to share in the proceeds of the suit. The act permits the United States to intervene and take over the lawsuit, as it did in this case as to some of Sant’s allegations. The qui tam whistleblower will receive approximately $840,000 of the federal settlement.
The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Sant v. Biotronik, Inc., No. 2:09-CV-03617 KJM EFB (E.D. Cal.). The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Source: Dept. of Justice