by Ben Vernia | April 18th, 2020
On April 17, the Department of Justice announced that a Maryland cardiologist and his practices have agreed to pay $750,000 to settle allegations, originally brought by a whistleblower in a qui tam complaint, that the doctors and his offices
Mubashar Choudry, M.D., and three medical practices with which he is associated, Washington Cardiovascular Institute, Advanced Vascular Resources, and Washington Vascular Institute, have agreed to pay the United States $750,000 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that they knowingly billed Medicare and TRICARE for claims in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), the Department of Justice announced today. Choudry is a cardiologist who has treated patients in Maryland and Washington, D.C. for peripheral arterial disease.
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The AKS prohibits the knowing and willful payment of any remuneration to induce the referral of services or items that are paid for by a federal healthcare program, such as Medicare and TRICARE. Claims submitted to these programs in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute may give rise to liability under the False Claims Act.
The settlement resolves allegations that, between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2016, Choudry, Washington Cardiovascular Institute, Advanced Vascular Resources, and Washington Vascular Institute submitted, or caused, false claims in violation of the AKS. Specifically, the defendants allegedly induced patient referrals by providing ankle-brachial index testing on patients under agreements with the referring physicians but without collecting from the physicians the fair market value for the tests. Ankle-brachial index testing is used to detect peripheral arterial disease, which Choudry and the practices would treat.
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The government announced that the whistleblower, a former employee, will receive $125,000 of the settlement (a 16.67% relator’s share).
