DaVita — Medicare Fraud/Kickbacks ($400 million)

Two of our whistleblower attorneys led the representation of David Barbetta, a former financial analyst for DaVita HealthCare Partners, one of the largest providers of dialysis services in the United States. Mr. Barbetta brought a qui tam action under the False Claims Act against DaVita alleging the company violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying physicians to refer their patients to DaVita clinics for dialysis. According to the complaint, DaVita sold doctors shares of DaVita clinics at below fair market value, and purchased doctors’ interests in other clinics at above fair market value. The government joined the case, and alleged that DaVita had entered into these sweetheart deals with doctors, which gave the doctors returns of over 100%, and the doctors then steered their patients to DaVita clinics. In 2014, DaVita paid $400 million to settle the case, the largest stand-alone kickback settlement to date. See Denver Post and Modern Healthcare for more.

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicare, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Rewards,