April 29, 2016
Hollister Inc., a manufacturer of disposable health care products, and
Byram Healthcare Centers Inc., a supplier of medical products, agreed to respectively pay roughly $11.4 million and $9.4 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act through an illegal kickback scheme. According to the government, Hollister paid kickbacks to Byram in return for marketing promotions, conversion campaigns and other referrals of patients to Hollister’s ostomy and continence care products. The government claimed that Byram also received kickbacks from three other manufacturers of ostomy and continence care products, namely
Coloplast Corp.,
Montreal Ostomy and
Safe N’ Simple. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by two former employees and one current employee of Coloplast under the
qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. They will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery.
DOJ