A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Dialysis Corporation of America (DCA), acquired by U.S. Renal Care in June 2010, who is accused of submitting false claims to the Medicare program for more Epogen than was actually administered to dialysis patients at DCA facilities.
The whistleblower will receive $1,314,000 as part of the government's settlement.
Epogen is an intravenous medication that is used to treat anemia, a common condition afflicting patients with end-stage renal disease. Epogen vials contain a small amount of medication in excess of the labeled amount, known as “overfill,” to compensate for medication that may remain in the vial after extraction and in the syringe upon administration.
Based upon the originally filed whistleblower lawsuit from 2008, the United States contends that from January 2004 through May 2011, DCA billed for 10-11% overfill whenever it administered Epogen. However, because of the types of syringes DCA used, the United States alleges that DCA was not able to withdraw and administer 10-11% overfill every time it administered Epogen to patients, and thus submitted false claims to Medicare that overstated the amount of Epogen that it was actually providing.
