Eastern District of New York Federal Court in Brooklyn — the site where New York-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital’s $17.3 million settlement was announced, resolving allegations of healthcare fraud through unlawful kickbacks to physicians.
Brooklyn Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese
New York-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital has agreed to a $17.3 million settlement on Tuesday to resolve allegations of health care fraud. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace announced that the settlement addresses claims related to unlawful kickbacks paid to physicians at the hospital’s chemotherapy infusion center.
The allegations center on a contractual arrangement that purportedly linked physicians’ compensation to the volume of referrals made for services at the center. The agreement resolves claims that physicians at the infusion center failed to adequately supervise chemotherapy services, a violation of both federal and New York State False Claims Acts.
The hospital has agreed to pay $16.410 million to the federal government and $890,000 to New York State, following a voluntary disclosure of the issues by the hospital itself.
“This settlement addresses a compensation scheme that incentivized physicians to make referrals for services based on how much they would be paid and were essentially kickbacks,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “New York-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital voluntarily self-disclosed the conduct to the United States, which allowed it to mitigate the penalties associated with the conduct.”