DaVita has agreed to pay more than $34 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce referrals to DaVita Rx, a former subsidiary that provided pharmacy services for dialysis patients, and by paying kickbacks to nephrologists and vascular access physicians to induce the referral of patients to DaVita’s dialysis centers. Of the $34,487,390 settlement amount, $17,243,695 is restitution.
The United States alleged that DaVita paid kickbacks to a competing outpatient dialysis and renal pharmacy company to induce referrals to DaVita Rx to serve as a “central fill pharmacy” for the competitor’s Medicare patients’ prescriptions. DaVita Rx was responsible for processing, fulfilling, dispensing, and shipping prescription drugs to Competitor’s Medicare dialysis patients, either at the patients’ home or Competitor’s dialysis clinics. In exchange, DaVita paid to acquire nine European dialysis clinics in Poland and Portugal and also agreed to extend a prior commitment to purchase dialysis products from the competitor. DaVita would not have paid the price it did not these deals without the competitor’s commitment to refer Medicare patients’ prescriptions to DaVita Rx.
Second, DaVita allegedly provided management services to vascular access centers and ambulatory surgical centers owned by physicians who were in a position to refer patients to DaVita’s dialysis clinics. DaVita paid the physician-owners improper remuneration by not...
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