LOS ANGELES
A Hawthorne-based physician settled allegations that he violated the False Claims Act by receiving kickbacks and other improper payments, according to federal officials
In exchange for the kickbacks and improper payments, the doctor referred patients to Memorial Hospital of Gardena, officials stated.
Dr. Ashok Kumar paid $215,228 on March 1 to settle the allegations brought against him in a whistleblower lawsuit.
Memorial Hospital of Gardena provided compensation to Kumar, whom they hired as a medical director, officials stated.
The compensation exceeded the fair market value of his services and was an attempt to give him incentives to refer patients to their hospital.
The lawsuit alleged that Kumar violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute as well as the Physician Self-Referral Law.
The Anti-Kickback Statute imposes civil liability on those who willingly offer, solicit, receive or pay any sort of compensation in exchange for the referral of services provided by a federal health care program, including Medicare.
The Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, bans doctors from referring patients to receive designated health care services payable by Medicare or Medicaid from entities with which the doctor or an immediate family member has a financial relationship.
The settlement resolves allegations originally brought in a lawsuit by Dr. Joshua Luke, the former chief executive officer of Memorial Hospital of Gardena, against Kumar and other defendants under the whistleblower provisions of both the federal and California False Claims Acts.
Both statutes permit private parties to sue on behalf of the state and federal governments for false claims for government funds and to receive a share of any recovery.
Dr. Luke will receive $42,529 from the federal government as his share of the recovery.
His allegations against the other defendants were resolved in 2018 when they agreed to pay the federal government an $8.1 million settlement.
The allegations brought on behalf of the State of California have been resolved pursuant to a separate agreement.
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