WASHINGTON – GE Healthcare has paid more than $30 million to the government to settle False Claims Act allegations, putting to rest a years-long case related to a subsidiary's radiopharmaceutical product.
A whistleblower lawsuit charged that Amersham Health Inc., a company acquired by GE Healthcare in 2004, had violated the False Claims Act by causing Medicare to overpay for one of the company’s products, Myoview, a radiopharmaceutical used in some cardiac diagnostic imaging procedures.
[See also: Anti-fraud efforts save CMS $4B in 2010]The federal government claimed that Amersham Health provided false or misleading information to Medicare that resulted in the agency paying artificially inflated rates for Myoview.
“It’s important for drug manufacturers to provide accurate pricing information to Medicare so that taxpayers aren't overcharged for medicines purchased with their dollars,” said Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, in a statement about the settlement.
Since the allegations happened before GE Healthcare acquired Amersham, GE Healthcare admits no wrongdoing, said Aleisia Gibson, a GE Healthcare spokesperson. "GE Healthcare is pleased to have reached a resolution in this long-standing case," Gibson said. "Origins of this issue date back to 2000-2003, or more than a year before GE Healthcare acquired the manufacturers and distributors for the Myoview product."
[See also: Quest to pay $241M to settle Medi-Cal suit ]In its agreement with the government, GE Healthcare has paid to the federal government $30 million plus interest. The whistleblower in the suit will receive $5.1 million of the funds recovered by the government.
Follow HFN associate editor Stephanie Bouchard on Twitter @SBouchardHFN.
