During the pandemic, several settlements have been reached in lawsuits involving devicemakers, drug companies and physician groups.
Four settlements healthcare leaders should know about:
1. New York City-based New York Cardiology and Ghanshyam Bhambhani, MD, settled claims they violated anti-kickback laws by employing an unlawful rental agreement with referring physicians and generating false claims for cardiac procedures. Bloomberg Law reported on the settlement in late August.
2. In July, Merit Medical Systems said it would pay about $18 million to resolve a federal investigation into a whistleblower lawsuit. The devicemaker's former chief compliance officer, Charles Wolf, MD, alleged that Merit Medical illegally influenced physicians to use its devices by paying consulting fees and by providing paid advertising for loyal users.
3. Swiss pharma giant Novartis agreed to pay $234 million to the Department of Justice and $113 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Becker's ASC Review reported in late June. The drugmaker allegedly violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing physicians in Greece, Vietnam, South Korea and China to use more of its products.
4. Cardiologist and vascular surgeon Mubashar Choudry, MD, and three medical practices agreed to pay $750,000 to settle False Claims Act allegations, the DOJ announced April 17. Dr. Choudry and the practices with which he's associated — Washington Cardiovascular Institute in Takoma Park, Md., Advanced Vascular Resources in Rockville, Md., and Washington Vascular Institute in Takoma Park — were accused of billing Medicare and Tricare for claims in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.