Justice Department Joins Whistleblower to Expose Mobile Medical Imaging Fraud
Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel whistleblower client uncovered multimillion dollar healthcare fraud.
The case centers on claims that the defendants violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law by paying doctors to refer patients to its mobile cardiac PET scan services in violation of the FCA.”
DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES, February 14, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The U.S. Department of Justice has joined a whistleblower’s claims against a second former executive and co-owner of Cardiac Imaging Inc. as part of a multimillion-dollar scheme by the Illinois-based mobile medical imaging company to defraud Medicare and other government healthcare programs. — Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel
The Government’s False Claims Act (FCA) complaint filed against Rick Nassenstein in Texas federal court originated when a Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel client came forward with a FCA whistleblower claim.
In October 2023, the Justice Department reached an $85.4 million settlement in the same whistleblower’s case against Cardiac Imaging Inc. (CII) and its founder and CEO Samuel Kancherlapalli (U.S. ex rel. Pinto v. Cardiac Imaging, Inc., et al., No. 18-cv-2674 (S.D. Tex.)). The agreement was a record FCA settlement in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The case centers on claims that the defendants violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law by paying physicians to refer patients to its mobile cardiac PET scan services in violation of the FCA.
The latest complaint focuses on Nassenstein’s alleged role in CII’s scheme to pay above fair-market-value fees to doctors who referred patients to CII for PET-scan services in violation of the Stark Law and the FCA, allegations first brought by the whistleblower.
Qui Tam Whistleblower Exposes Healthcare Fraud
The operation was exposed after a former billing manager at the company came forward with information under qui tam whistleblower provisions of the FCA. The law allows individuals — also known as relators — to file an action on behalf of the government and receive up to 30 percent of the recovery.
The whistleblower is represented by Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel partners Charles Siegel and Caitlyn Silhan and Marchand Law partner David Marchand. Houston-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Green and Washington D.C.-based Samuel Lehman and Jake Shields, are leading the prosecution for the government.
The lawsuit is U.S.A. v. Cardiac Imaging Inc., et al., No. 18-cv-2674.
About Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel
Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel has earned record verdicts and settlements in a wide range of litigation, including toxic torts, pharmaceutical product liability, consumer product liability, and qui tam whistleblower litigation. Based in Dallas, with offices in Los Angeles and Moline, Illinois, the firm has represented families from all 50 states and many foreign countries, as well as foreign governments. For more information, visit https://waterskraus.com/.
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