FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTAUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885

MAY 23, 2007

TOWSON DOCTOR AGREES TO PAY $300,000 AND ENTER INTO AN INTEGRITY AGREEMENT TO SETTLE FALSE BILLING CLAIMS RELATED TO COSMETIC LASER PROCEDURES

Baltimore, Maryland - David C. McCarus, M.D., age 55, an OB/GYN practicing in Towson, Maryland, has agreed to pay the United States $300,000 to settle claims under the False Claims Act that he submitted false claims to Medicare, the Federal Health Employees Health Benefits Program (“FEHBP”) and TRICARE, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, “Doctors who file false claims for federal health benefits must be held accountable for their conduct. This settlement achieves that goal by recovering money under the False Claims Act and protecting the integrity of the federal health care program through a monitored integrity agreement.”

The settlement arises out of a complaint filed by the United States captioned U.S. v. David C. McCarus, (D.Md.) AMD-05-3132, alleging that from November 3, 2000 to September 30, 2004, McCarus: falsely billed Medicare, the FEHBP and TRICARE for the treatment of cosmetic conditions such as varicose veins, spider veins, facial hair, redness or flushing of face, tiny red spots, broken veins on face, bikini lines, skin tags, stretch marks and scars with the use of Intense Pulsated Light (IPL), YAG Laser or Eplight, as if the treatments were covered medical services when in fact the conditions treated were non-covered and non-reimbursable services; falsely diagnosed patients with reimbursable medical conditions, as opposed to the actual cosmetic conditions that each patient had, to make it appear as if treatment of the cosmetic conditions was a covered, reimbursable service; billed for the treatment of cosmetic conditions that was not medically necessary; and inflated or upcoded the size of the area on the skin treated in order to substantially increase reimbursement.

McCarus filed an answer in the case denying these allegations and there have been no findings of fraud by the court.

In addition to the monetary settlement, McCarus has agreed to enter into an integrity agreement with the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services. The integrity agreement imposes compliance measures and ongoing monitoring to ensure the integrity of claims submitted by McCarus to federal health care programs.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the investigative work performed by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General and the Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General. Mr. Rosenstein also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas F. Corcoran, who handled the case.