A patient care clinic in Wisconsin has agreed to pay over $380,000 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by causing Medicare to be billed for services that were not medically necessary, including vitamin injections.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Apple Medical Clinic—along with its proprietor Michael Johnson, MD—engaged in deceptive advertising, selling electric stimulation devices in combination with nerve density testing and the injections that, together, would allegedly reduce chronic pain.
Apple Medical and Johnson marketed the package of services as a "life-changing" treatment, a “last hope” that was also "covered by most insurances and Medicare," the DOJ wrote in its lawsuit.
However, authorities confirmed that the combined treatments, along with the way they were administered, were absolutely not covered by Medicare. The devices, developed by Nevada-based RST-Sanexas, were FDA-cleared for a very specific use, and National Coverage Determinations plainly state that electrical nerve stimulation treatments furnished by a physician, therapist or outpatient clinic are excluded from coverage.
Further, the DOJ alleged that Johnson worked as a “major national distributor” of the electric pain signal blocking devices, effectively violating federal anti-kickback statutes, given that he was compensated by Sanexas—which has been named as a defendant in related lawsuits, as part of an ongoing effort to crack down on fraud related...
Business THE management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has noted with concern the circulation of unfounded and misleading claims suggesting that its petroleum products are export...