January 09, 2007
SCCI Houston, a former acute-care hospital based in Dallas, has paid $7.5 million to the federal government to resolve allegations of Medicare fraud.
The defendant, which has since been acquired by Triumph Healthcare, allegedly entered into illegal financial relationships with three physicians in violation of self-referral statutes, and submitted or caused false claims to be submitted to the Medicare program.
The original suit was brought by whistleblowers acting under the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act. The whistleblowers will share $1.7 million of the settlement.
The Houston Chronicle reported on the settlement in its January 5, 2007 issue.