A La Habra-based provider of positron emission tomography scan services has agreed to pay more than $8.3 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by offering improper payments to referring cardiologists, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
Prosecutors allege that between September 2016 and January 2025, Modern Nuclear Inc. submitted claims to federal health care programs linked to financial arrangements prohibited under the Anti-Kickback Statute, including payments to cardiologists that exceeded fair market value in exchange for patient referrals and oversight of PET scans.
According to court filings from prosecutors, some of those payments covered time when physicians were not present at scan locations or were treating other patients, adding that certain services billed by MNI were rarely or never provided.
MNI cited a legal opinion to justify that its payments reflected fair market value, but investigators determined the opinion was based on inaccurate information and was later withdrawn by the consultant who issued it, prosecutors said.
As part of the settlement, MNI entered into a five-year corporate integrity agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
Prosecutors said the agreement requires the company to adopt compliance measures governing its relationships with referring physicians and to establish a program addressing risks under the Anti-Kickback Statute, with an independent compliance expert to evaluate the program’s effectiveness.
The firm will pay $8,334,350, along with additional amounts tied to future revenue, according to the Department of Justice.
“Paying illegal kickbacks to doctors so they refer patients undermines the integrity of federal healthcare programs and needlessly increases costs,” First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli.
“Patients deserve care based on their medical need and not on a doctor or company’s financial interest.”
The case stems from a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act by relators Matt Lieberman and James Whitney.
Prosecutors said the lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Central District of California, alleged improper billing practices tied to referral arrangements.
The relators will receive 16% of the recovery.
The resolution involved coordination between the Justice Department’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, with assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul B. La Scala of the Civil Division’s Civil Fraud Section and Senior Trial Counsel Sanjay M. Bhambhani of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.