On December 12, the US Department of Justice announced yet another victory in the war against healthcare fraud. Medtronic Inc., the world’s largest maker of medical devices, has agreed to pay a 23.5 million dollar settlement to the US government to settle a lawsuit alleging that the company violated the False Claims Act.
According to the allegations, Medtronic paid between $1,000 and $2,000 to physicians in order to persuade them to implant the company’s pacemakers and defibrillators – rather than competitors’ devices – into Medicare and Medicaid patients. The Government accused Medtronic of submitting false claims to Medicare and Medicaid by offering doctors these kickbacks under the guise of post-market studies and device registries.
The settlement resolves similar accusations brought against the company in two separate qui tam lawsuits – one in Minnesota and the other in California. As a part of the settlement, the four whistleblowers in the two cases will receive over $3.96 million in payments as their share of the federal recovery. These brave individuals have done a commendable service for this country. They stood up for American taxpayers and exposed waste and fraud on our healthcare system. To learn more about how every day citizens like these whistleblowers were able to stop Medtronic, go to http://www.fraudfighters.net.