In November, FraudBlawg reported that durable medical equipment (DME) company Atricure had agreed in principle to pay nearly $4 million to settle allegations that it engaged in off-label marketing of its surgical ablution devices for purposes not approved by the FDA and, in turn, caused false claims to be made under federally-funded healthcare programs.  Last week, DoJ confirmed that Atricure will pay $3.76 million to settle the allegations brought by a whistleblower, who will share in the reward under the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act. According to the DoJ, the payment by Atricure will also settle allegations that:

[Atricare] promoted expensive heart surgery using the company’s devices when less invasive alternatives were appropriate, advised hospitals to up-code surgical procedures using the company’s devices to inflate Medicare reimbursement, and paid kickbacks to health care providers to use its devices.

To report DME or other healthcare fraud, contact Frohsin & Barger.