by Ben Vernia | July 5th, 2011
The Department of Justice announced on June 30 that a Las Vegas physician has agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle civil charges that he billed federal healthcare programs for several types of illegitimate claims. According to DOJ’s press release:
Rakesh Nathu, a Las Vegas physician, has agreed to pay the United States $5.7 million plus interest to settle allegations that he submitted false claims to federal health care programs for various radiation oncology services, including intensity modulated radiation therapy, the Justice Department announced today. Intensity modulated radiation therapy is a sophisticated radiation treatment indicated for specific types of cancer where extreme precision is required to spare surrounding organs or healthy tissue.
The government alleges that Nathu submitted improper claims to Medicare, TRICARE and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan from 2007 through 2009 in which he double billed for several procedures affiliated with radiation treatment plans, billed for certain high reimbursement radiation oncology services when a different, less expensive service should have been billed and billed for medically unnecessary radiation oncology services.
The case was not brought as a whisleblower, or qui tam suit.
