Government files suit against company; billed unnecessary procedures performed on dialysis patients to Medicare
A suit was filed in the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday on behalf of government prosecutors alleging that Fresenius Vascular Care Inc. had committed fraud by performing unnecessary procedures on dialysis patients at nine of the company’s centers in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and billing the procedures to Medicare, Medicaid, the Federal Health Benefits Program and TRICARE under the False Claims Act.
From January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2018, Fresenius had performed dialysis procedures on patients with End Stage renal Disease (ESRD) without clinical indications that the patients needed the treatments.
The procedures included fistula grams – radiological procedures in which dye is injected into the patient’s vein or artery to visualize the port and surrounding blood vessels, and angioplasties, in which balloons and wires are inserted into veins that have narrowed to increase the patient’s blood flow. Fresenius allegedly had knowingly conducted these tests on ESRD patients – including the elderly, disadvantaged minority and low-income people – with motive of increasing its revenues.