A physician in Largo, Fla., has agreed to pay $350,000 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that he submitted fraudulent Medicare claims.
The Justice Department alleged that between September 2015 and December 2020, John Michaelos, MD, owner of St. Michael’s Eye & Laser Institute, caused the submission of false claims for transcranial Doppler tests to Medicare and the Veterans Health Administration, according to a Sept. 11 news release.
During that period, the eye institute had contracts with Eyecuity, an independent medical diagnostics company. Eyecuity paid St. Michael’s Eye & Laser Institute for referrals that the practice made for TCD tests.
The Medicare claims that Eyecuity submitted indicated that patients had Vertebro-Basilar Syndrome or Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency. Physicians at St. Michael’s Eye & Laser Institute did not have reason to believe the patients had the diagnosis.
The Justice Department contended the claims were false because St. Michael’s received payments from Eyecuity for the referrals, violating the Anti-Kickback Statute
As part of the settlement agreement, St. Michael’s and Dr. Michaelos admitted to and accepted responsibility for the underlying conduct, the release said.
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