June 28, 2017

PAMC Ltd. and Pacific Alliance Medical Center Inc., which together own and operate Pacific Alliance Medical Center, an acute care hospital located in Los Angeles, agreed to pay $42 million to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act and the Stark Law by engaging in improper financial relationships with referring physicians.  These relationships took the form of (1) arrangements under which the defendants allegedly paid above-market rates to rent office space in physicians’ offices, and (2) marketing arrangements that allegedly provided undue benefit to physicians’ practices.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Paul Chan, who was employed as a manager by one of the defendants.  He will receive a whistleblower award of more than $9.2 million from the proceeds of the government’s recovery.  DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Hospital Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,