Atlanta-based Arthritis & Rheumatology Center and its owner, Jatin Patel, MD, will pay $2.18 million to resolve allegations that the practice used medical assistants to perform infusion services in violation of Georgia law and the submitted Medicare claims, according to a Jan. 29 news release from the Justice Department.
What happened?
- The lawsuit alleged that ARC improperly used unlicensed medical assistants to infuse chemotherapy medications into patients, despite Georgia regulations prohibiting such conduct. The Medicare program does not pay for services rendered in violation of state law.
- The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Phillips Allender, the former ARC employee who filed the whistleblower complaint, will receive $414,200 from the settlement.
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