On February 13, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Spacelabs Healthcare, LLC will pay $2.5 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by overcharging the U.S. “for patient monitoring equipment sold to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense.” Marci Gebhardt and Christopher Kelley, two former Spacelabs employees, became qui tam whistleblowers in the case and will receive $437,500.
The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act enable private citizens to file lawsuits on behalf of the government if they know of an individual or company defrauding the government. Qui tam whistleblowers are eligible to receive between 15 and 30% of the government’s recovery, if one occurs.
Allegedly, from 2014 to 2019, “Spacelabs failed to follow the Price Reductions Clause in a VA contract, which required Spacelabs to provide the government with certain lower prices offered to another customer.” This led to the government “paying more than it should have for patient monitoring equipment,” the press release states.
According to the DOJ, “The settlement also resolves allegations that Spacelabs failed to follow a related clause in a Defense Logistics Agency contract.”
Gebhardt was formerly employed at Spacelabs as a Government Business Specialist, and Kelley was a Government Accounts Manager at the company.
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