UPMC, its longtime cardiothoracic surgery chair and University of Pittsburgh Physicians have settled with the Department of Justice (DOJ) over a whistleblower lawsuit alleging fraudulent billing and unsafe simultaneous surgical practices, according to a Monday release from the government.
UPMC, UPP and James Luketich, M.D., have agreed to pay $8.5 million to resolve claims that the organizations had knowingly submitted “hundreds” of false claims to government programs since 2015.
Based on allegations brought by a former UPMC surgeon, Jonathan D’Cunha, M.D., and a subsequent two-year investigation by the DOJ, the False Claims suit filed in late 2021 alleged that Luketich “regularly” performed as many as three complex surgical procedures simultaneously.
“The complaint alleged that Dr. Luketich used his position as a trusted doctor to defraud the healthcare system,” Federal Bureau of Investigation Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Mike Nordwall said in a statement.
Luketich allegedly “failed to participate in all of the ‘key and critical’ portions of his surgeries, and forced his patients to endure hours of medically unnecessary anesthesia time, as he moved between operating rooms and attended to other patients or matters,” the DOJ wrote in its announcement.
Doing so would represent a violation of government regulations that prohibit teaching physicians such as Luketich from billing the government for concurrent surgeries.
In an emailed statement, Paul Wood, vice president...
A La Habra-based provider of positron emission tomography scan services has agreed to pay more than $8.3 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by offering improper payment...