A crush of physicians, anesthesiology staffing firms, and outpatient surgery centers in Georgia will pay $28 million to resolve federal kickback allegations -- but the physician whistleblower who helped set the proceedings in motion died before she could see the outcome.
Kathleen Hartney-Velazco, MD, owner of Capitol Anesthesiology, died in June in a private plane crash near Centennial, Colorado, along with her husband, Antenor Velazco, MD.
Hartney-Velazco, Capitol Anesthesiology, and Jan Kersey (whose LinkedIn says she's a vice president at the anesthesiology group) originally filed their complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
They had alleged that from 2005 to 2015, Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta and Northside Anesthesiology Consultants made payments -- for drugs, supplies, equipment, and labor -- and provided free staffing to a number of Georgia outpatient surgery centers in order to become their exclusive anesthesiology providers.
DOJ noted that anesthesiology providers compete aggressively for exclusive contracts with hospitals and outpatient surgery centers, but giving kickbacks for patient referrals is illegal under the Anti-Kickback Statute, and that the relationships ultimately led to violations of the False Claims Act.
A total of 11 physicians, an administrator, and 12 companies -- including the staffing firms, surgery centers,...
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