April 21, 2015
Family Dermatology P.C., which owns and operates a dermatopathology lab in Georgia and several dermatology practices throughout the Eastern United States, agreed to pay $3,247,835 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act and the Stark Statute by engaging in improper financial relationships with a number of its employed physicians. According to the government, Family Dermatology routinely required its dermatologists to use Family Dermatology’s in-house pathology lab, which operated under the name
Nelson Dermatopathology, for their pathology services. The allegations first arose in three whistleblower lawsuits filed under the
qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Scott M. Ross MD, Mark F. Baucom and Harold Milstein MD. They will collectively receive a whistleblower award of more than $584,000.
DOJ