Respironics to Pay $34.8 Million to Settle False Claims Charge

Respironics Inc., based in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, will pay $34.8 million to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations for paying kickbacks in the form of free call center services to durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers that bought its masks for patients with sleep apnea.

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The settlement resolves a lawsuit originally brought by Dr. Gibran Ameer, who has worked for different DME companies, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.

Under the civil settlement announced, Dr. Ameer will receive $5.38 million out of the federal share of the recovery.

Dr. Ameer was represented by the McNair Law Firm in Columbia, South Carolina.

Resprionics was represented by Reed Smith in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Anti-Kickback Statute 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, Medicaid or TRICARE.

Claims submitted to these programs in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute are also false claims under the False Claims Act.

Federal officials alleged that Respironics violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act by providing free services to DME suppliers to induce them to purchase Respironics masks that treat sleep apnea.

Respironics allegedly provided DME companies with call center services to meet their patients’ resupply needs at no charge as long as the patients were using masks that Respironics manufactured; otherwise, the DME companies would have to pay a monthly fee based on the number of patients who used masks manufactured by a competitor of Respironics.

The government alleged that the conduct began in April 2012 and continued until November 2015.

“This office has made a substantial commitment to combating fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina. “Our commitment has made this district one of the leaders on behalf of whistleblowers.  We hope that those who commit fraud will recognize that it is our goal to make the consequences more than just the cost of doing business.”

Respironics will pay roughly $34.14 million to the federal government and roughly $660,000 to various state governments based on their participation in the Medicaid program.

 

 

 

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