Medtronic USA Inc. Agrees to $9.2 Million Settlement
Minnesota-based Medtronic USA Inc. has agreed to pay $9.2 million to resolve allegations that it violated the anti-kickback provision of the False Claims Act. The company was accused of illegally paying Wilson Asfora, M.D., a South Dakota neurosurgeon, to induce use of it’s SynchroMed II infusion pumps, which are implantable drug delivery devices. For a period of nine years, the lawsuit contends, Medtronic’s kickbacks were paid in the form of sponsoring hundreds of social gatherings hosted by Asfora at a restaurant which it knew he owned. Medtronic’s settlement also resolves it’s liability for failing to disclose that it sponsored events for Asfora, which qualifies as a transfer of value to a physician and therefore violates the CMS Open Payments Program.
Read more here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/medtronic-pay-over-92-million-settle-allegations-improper-payments-south-dakota-neurosurgeon