A Florida medical center sued for violations of the False Claims Act settled yesterday with the U.S. Justice Department for $12 million. The case was a result of a whistleblower lawsuit filed by the former oncology director of the provider, the Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates P.A. (MIMA). MIMA and its former medical director and practicing radiology oncologist, Dr. Todd Scarborough, were alleged to have defrauded Medicare and TRICARE (the military’s health care program) by improperly billed for certain radiation oncology services–including billing for services not rendered, not supervised, duplicate and unnecessary services, and upcoded services.
The Justice Department press release states that their investigation “revealed that the MIMA Cancer Center had defrauded the federal health care programs by improperly inflating claims through various schemes specifically designed to cloak the fraudulent practices.”
Both MIMA and Scarborough will pay portions of the settlement.
For more information on the False Claims Act or with questions, please contact Adrienne Dresevic, Esq. at (248) 996-8510.