Former president and co-owner of Cardiac Imaging Inc. (CII), Rick Nassenstein, faces a False Claims Act complaint filed by the United States, per a federal announcement.
Nassenstein, entangled in allegations of monetary manipulation, is accused of subsidizing doctors in a forbidden fashion—cash for cardiac care referrals, a clear violation of the Stark Law, which is designed to prevent these profit-driven practices that can skewer a physician's judgment.
The U.S. Attorney's Office disclosed that Nassenstein, purportedly pursuing padded profits, pressured CII into questionable compensation agreements with cardiologists referring patients for the company's mobile cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) scans, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. This provocative payment plan not only drove up healthcare costs but also clouded the clinical judgment of the doctors involved, he added.
Federal officials argue that these financial arrangements between healthcare providers and referring physicians, which are claimed to have persisted from at least 2017 through June 2023, corrode the integrity of medical treatment decisions and burgeon the burden of care cost.
In a concerted move to confront these conflicts of interest, the Department of Justice affirms it will enforce laws to guarantee unbiased patient care, relayed Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, as noted in the Justice Department’s announcement.
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