GE Healthcare, a major, international provider of pharmaceuticals and technology, agreed to pay $30 million to the U.S. to settle allegations that it improperly billed Medicare for its radiopharmaceutical drug Myoview. The settlement arose from a qui tam suit filed under the False Claims Act by James Wagel, a salesman for competing drug Cardiolite, in 2006. According to Wagel, GE Healthcare knowingly provided false information to the federal Medicare program from 2000 to 2003 regarding the reimbursement of Myoview, a diagnostic drug used for cardiology patients. More specifically, GE Healthcare improperly marketed the drug to physicians as one that could be diluted to maximize the number of doses per vial, while still receiving an inflated reimbursement from Medicare for each vial. As part of the settlement, Wagel will receive $5.1 million.
For more information see: http://www.freep.com/article/20111229/NEWS06/112290468/Pharmaceutical-firm-to-pay-36-30M-settlement-in-false-claims-suit?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|shttp://
