TULSA, Okla. –A Tulsa doctor has agreed to pay the
government $84,666.42 for allegedly accepting illegal kickback payments from OK
Compounding, LLC, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of
Oklahoma has entered into a settlement agreement with Brandon Claflin, 42, a
licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine, in an effort to recoup the costs to
the U.S. government resulting from the illegal kickbacks. This civil settlement resulted from an
investigation into numerous health care providers writing prescriptions for
pain creams compounded and sold by OK Compounding.
“Our Affirmative Civil Enforcement attorneys continue to
prioritize these cases in an effort to recover illegally obtained funds that
served to line the pockets of the corrupt,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
“We are committed to ensuring that federal health care dollars are spent
judiciously and in accordance with the law. Our diligence in this area sends a
clear signal that abuse of federal health care programs will not be tolerated.”
Beginning in 2013, Dr. Claflin prescribed these pain creams
for his patients, facilitating the sale and distribution of the creams. As
compensation for his services, OK Compounding, paid Dr. Claflin what was
characterized by the parties as “medical director fees” based upon an hourly
rate. However, the payments Dr. Claflin received from the company were, in
actuality, “kickbacks.” Because some of his patients were insured by TRICARE
and the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs of the United States
Department of Labor, the kickbacks were in violation of the False Claims Act.
It is illegal to pay or receive “kickbacks” in conjunction with federal
healthcare insurance.
Prohibitions against kickbacks are crucial to insure that
financial motives do not undermine the medical judgment of physicians and other
health care providers. The civil False
Claims Act is an important tool used to protect the integrity of
taxpayer-funded health care programs.
The agreement resolves allegations that Dr. Claflin had an
illegal financial relationship with OK Compounding, concerning pain creams from
2013 through 2014.
This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marianne
Hardcastle and is the product of a collaborative investigation by the Defense
Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Labor–Office of Inspector General
(OIG), IRS–Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Service–OIG, FBI, Department of
Veterans Affairs–OIG and the Department of Health and Human Services–OIG.
Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) refers to filing civil
lawsuits on behalf of the United States. The purpose of these civil actions is
to recover government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or to impose
penalties for violations of Federal health, safety, civil rights or
environmental laws.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only;
there has been no determination of liability.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment