A Chatsworth doctor who operates a pain management clinic agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve allegations that he submitted fraudulent bills and received improper payments from federal and state health insurance programs, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
In a case partially unsealed today, the doctor and his pain clinic, the Santa Clarita Surgery Center for Advanced Pain Management, agreed to pay a total of $1.2 million to the federal government and the state of California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The settlement concludes a federal “whistleblower” lawsuit filed by a woman who used to provide billing and collection services to the clinic.
The lawsuit alleged that the doctor and his clinic obtained improper reimbursements from government-run health insurance programs, including Medicare, Medi-Cal and Tricare, a federal health insurance program for military and related military personnel.
The lawsuit alleged that the doctor and his clinic submitted fraudulent claims by submitting bills that were not justified by the services that were actually provided.
The settlement was announced after U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford unsealed the lawsuit in Santa Ana federal court. The parties have asked the court to dismiss the suit, which was filed pursuant to federal and state False Claims Acts.
The whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Acts permit an individual to sue on behalf of the United States and California, and to share in the proceeds of the suit.
As a result of the settlement, whistleblower will receive a total of $204,000, prosecutors said.
— City News Service