Dialysis company pays $3,246,000 to resolve claims of paying kickbacks to Memphis-area nephrologists.

A dialysis joint venture, Wellbound of Memphis, LLC, paid $3,246,000 to the United States to resolve allegations that partners in the joint venture made illegal payments to several Memphis-area nephrologists in exchange for patient referrals, a practice that violates the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and federal False Claims Act. These alleged inducements included selling ownership interests in the joint venture at below market rates. The majority of the patients being referred to the Wellbound dialysis clinic were Medicare patients, and Medicare has a strict policy against paying any claims that have been tainted by an unlawful kickback. The whistleblower who brought the case, represented by attorneys from Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison, was another nephrologist practicing in the Memphis area.

Read more at The Department of Justice press release.