Internal Medicine Practice Agrees to Pay U.s. Department of Justice over $300,000 to Resolve Medicare Fraud Allegations
Reno, Nev. – A Las Vegas internal medicine practice has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve civil allegations of health care fraud to the Medicare system, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
The settlement agreement, effective August 11, 2010, states that Emery Steckler Medical Institute, d/b/a Internal Medicine Associates in Las Vegas, agreed to pay $301,167.44 to the United States to resolve allegations that between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2006, it submitted claims to Medicare and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program for the performance of tests on patients in the absence of medical necessity. Specifically, Emery Steckler submitted claims for lipid panel tests and directly measured LDL tests on the same day for the same patient.
The settlement agreement states that it is neither an admission of liability by the health care providers nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded.
In 2008, three physicians who previously worked at Internal Medicine Associates in Las Vegas, James Eels, M.D., Mark C. Handelman, M.D., and Glen C. Meyers, M.D. also entered into settlement agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve the same civil allegations.
Assistant United States Attorney Roger Wenthe handled the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney's Office. The case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
