A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Diagnostic Imaging Group (DIG) who is accused of falsely billing federal and state health care programs for tests that were not performed or not medically necessary and by paying kickbacks to physicians. DIG previously operated chains in New Jersey and Florida through subsidiaries Doshi Diagnostic Imaging Services of New Jersey and Signet Diagnostic Imaging Services.
The DIG agreed to pay $13.65 million to the federal government and an additional total of $1.85 million to New York and New Jersey. The three whistleblowers that initially filed lawsuits will receive the following amounts; $ 1.5 million , $ 1.07 million and $ 209,250.
The first of all the lawsuits was filed in September 2009. The government alleged that hat DIG submitted claims to Medicare, as well as the New Jersey and New York Medicaid Programs, for 3D reconstructions of CT scans that were never performed or interpreted. Additionally, DIG allegedly bundled certain tests on its order forms so that physicians could not order other tests without ordering the additional bundled tests, which were not medically necessary. Today’s settlement also resolves allegations that DIG paid kickbacks to physicians for the referral of diagnostic tests. According to the government, the kickbacks were in the form of payments that DIG made to physicians ostensibly to supervise patients who underwent nuclear stress testing. These payments allegedly exceeded fair market value and were, in fact, intended to reward physicians for their referrals.
