A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Respironics Inc.
The whistleblowers' share of the settlement will be $5.38 million.
On March 23, 2016, Department of Justice announced, that Respironics Inc was providing free services to durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers to persuade them to purchase Respironics masks that treat sleep apnea. Respironics allegedly provided DME companies with call center services to meet their patients’ resupply needs at no charge as long as the patients were using masks that Respironics manufactured; otherwise, the DME companies would have to pay a monthly fee based on the number of patients who used masks manufactured by a competitor of Respironics. The government alleged that the conduct began in April 2012 and continued until November 2015.
Respironics Inc will pay approximately $34.14 million to the federal government and approximately $660,000 to numerous state governments based on their involvement in the Medicaid program.