EYE SURGERY CENTER PAYS U.S. AND WEST VIRGINIA
FOR FILING FALSE FEDERAL HEALTH CARE CLAIMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anwar Eye Center, Inc., an ambulatory
surgical center specializing in cataract removal surgery and lens
implants, has agreed to pay $240,000 to the United States and the
State of West Virginia to settle allegations that the center
submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of
Defense TRICARE Program, the Department of Justice announced today.
The government alleged that from 1993 to 1996 the Moundsville,
West Virginia center allowed an individual who lacked proper
certification to administer anesthesia prior to cataract surgery. It
was also alleged that employees were directed to falsify records to
indicate that a person with proper credentials had performed the
procedure.
“This settlement represents our continued efforts to ensure
that beneficiaries of federal health benefit programs receive care
that complies with federal and state standards,” said David W. Ogden,
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.
Today’s settlement resolves a civil suit that originally was
filed by Margaret Kaufman, a private individual who filed the case in
federal district court under the provisions of the False Claims Act’s
qui tam or whistleblower provisions. Ms. Kaufman will receive a
share of the settlement.
In addition to the monetary settlement, Anwar Eye Center
entered into a three-year corporate integrity agreement with the
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector
General, to settle administrative claims. The settlement concludes an
investigation undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s
Clarksville, West Virginia field office, the U.S. Department of
Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s Pittsburgh Resident
Agency Office, the State of West Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control
Unit, and the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.