Arthur J. Fried, Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s New York office, co-authored an American Health Lawyers Association Email Alert titled “Georgia Health System and Medical Oncologist Settle Upcoding and Stark Allegations for Up to $35 Million.”
Following is an excerpt:
Resolving allegations of potential upcoding and violations of the Stark Law, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia announced on September 2 that it entered into a settlement agreement with Columbus Regional Healthcare System (CRHS) and Dr. Andrew Pippas, a medical oncologist employed by CHRS’ cancer center (Cancer Center). CRHS agreed to pay $25 million, plus up to $10 million in contingency payments, and Pippas agreed to pay $425,000, to resolve two qui tam actions filed by Richard Barker, the Cancer Center’s former administrative director, alleging violations of the federal and Georgia false claims acts.