SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA – A doctor who operates a pain management clinic in Valencia has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve allegations that he submitted fraudulent bills and received improper payments from federal and state health insurance programs, officials said Wednesday.
In a case partially unsealed today, Dr. Narinder S. Grewal, of Chatsworth, and his pain clinic, the Santa Clarita Surgery Center for Advanced Pain Management agreed to pay $1 million to the federal government and $112,823.91 to California, officials said.
The settlement concludes a federal “whistleblower” lawsuit filed by Chandana Basu, who used to provide billing and collection services to the Grewal’s clinic. As a result of the settlement, Basu will get $204,000 as her share of the settlement.
The whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Acts permit a private person to sue on behalf of the United States and California, and to share in the proceeds of the suit, according to authorities.
Basu’s lawsuit alleged that Grewal and his clinic obtained improper reimbursements from government-run health insurance programs, including Medicare, Medi-Cal and Tricare, a federal health insurance program for military and related military personnel, officials said.
The lawsuit alleged that Grewal and his clinic submitted fraudulent claims by “upcoding” medical services, which means that he allegedly submitted bills that were not justified by the services that were actually provided.