A Texas ophthalmology provider group will pay nearly $3 million to resolve allegations that it offered and paid kickbacks to optometrists to induce patient referrals who were candidates for cataract surgery.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas then dismissed the civil action.
According to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Texas, Arlington Ophthalmology Association, P.L.L.C. doing business as Kleiman Evangelista Eye Centers (K&E), with offices located in Arlington, Dallas, Plano, Southlake, Mount Pleasant, and Gun Barrel City, Texas, agreed to pay $2,902,505 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it offered and paid kickbacks to optometrists to induce referrals of patients who were candidates for cataract surgery in in violation of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute.
“The Eastern District of Texas is committed to looking beyond labels and examining providers' actual conduct. Although co-management can be a legitimate practice, merely applying that label does not give providers carte blanche to remunerate referring providers in order to secure business,” Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston said in the news release. “We are committed to investigating any financial incentives offered to secure referrals, which cloud providers' medical judgement, and violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.”
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