$83 Million Award for Medicare Fraud

ST. LOUIS (CN) - A federal judge awarded $82.6 million to the United States in a Medicare fraud case against Renal Care Group and Fresenius Medical Care.

The whistleblower lawsuit, filed in St. Louis in 2005 and transferred to Tennessee Federal Court in 2009, claimed that Renal Care Group, Renal Care Group Supply Co., and Fresenius Medical Care Holdings recklessly disregarded federal law when billing Medicare for home dialysis supplies and equipment from 1999 to 2005.

The government claimed that from January 1999 to December 2005, Renal Care Group submitted false claims for equipment provided to home dialysis patients and set up a sham billing company that interfered with patients' choice of supply options and forced patients to move to Renal Care Group.

U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes entered the $82,642,592 in favor of the United States. Of that, $38,873,592 goes toward treble damages and $43,769,000 to civil penalties.

Follow @@joeharris_stl

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit