Last week, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $9.21 million settlement with Medtronic USA Inc., based on allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to a neurosurgeon as well as the Open Payments Program by failing to accurately report payments made to the neurosurgeon.
DOJ False Claims Act Allegations
According to the DOJ, Medtronic complied with requests by South Dakota neurosurgeon, Wilson Asfora, MD, to pay for social events at Carnaval Brazilian Grill, a restaurant Medtronic knew Asfora owned. The social event tabs included pricey meals and Medtronic allegedly made the payments to benefit Asfora and induce him to use Medtronic’s SynchroMed II intrathecal infusion pumps – implantable devices used to deliver medication to patients.
