Anesthesia management services company Care Plus Management, its founders Paul Weir and John Morgan, MD, and 18 anesthesia entities that Care Plus owned and operated will pay $7.2 million to settle allegations of kickbacks and false claims, the Justice Department said April 13.
Under the False Claims Act, a whistleblower for the case will receive over $1.3 million from the settlement.
Between 2012 and 2016, Mr. Weir and Dr. Morgan were alleged to have convinced ASC physician owners to award exclusive service agreements in exchange for partial ownership in Care Plus anesthesia entities that would service the ASCs, the Justice Department said.
The department alleged that Care Plus subsidized surgery centers' costs for drugs, supplies and equipment to further entice physician owners to grant exclusive agreements to Care Plus.
No determination of liability was reached in the case.