Catholic Medical Center in Manchester has agreed to pay $3.8 million to resolve claims that it violated a federal anti-kickback law by making payments to a cardiologist who referred patients to its New England Heart Institute, U.S. Attorney John Farley announced Wednesday.
In a statement, Farley did not name the cardiologist and said that CMC did not admit liability in the settlement.
According to the statement, CMC’s cardiologists provided “free call coverage” while the unnamed cardiologist was on vacation or was not available for patients. In return, the doctor provided referrals worth millions of dollars to the hospital over the decade in which the arrangement existed.
