A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against St. Joseph Medical Center (SJMC) in Towson, MD who is accused of paing unlawful remuneration in a series of professional services contracts with MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates (MACVA).
The whistleblowers recovery amounts were not disclosed.
The original lawsuit was filed in June 2010 and it alleged that SJMC paid kickbacks to MidAtlantic under the guise of professional services agreements, in return for MACVA’s referrals to the medical center of lucrative cardiovascular procedures, including cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology procedures, over the period from Jan. 1, 1996, to Jan. 1, 2006. The settlement agreement resolves issues relating to 11 professional services agreements between MidAtlantic and St. Joseph under which MACVA received payments above fair market value, for services not rendered or that were not commercially reasonable and were entered into for the purpose of inducing referrals by MACVA to SJMC.
Under the settlement the hospital also agrees to settle allegations that it received from federal health benefit programs between Jan. 1, 2008, and May 12, 2009, for medically unnecessary stents performed by Mark Midei, M.D., a one time partner in MACVA who was later employed by SJMC.
