Two San Diego-area ophthalmology specialists paid the federal government nearly $950,000 to settle allegations that they falsely billed Medicare in violation of the False Claims Act, the Department of Justice announced Jan. 2.
San Diego Retina Associates' Mark Smith, MD, and Fane Robinson, MD, were accused of billing Medicare for services provided by a physician who was not properly credentialed at the time.
Federal prosecutors also alleged that the physicians misidentified another SDRA physician who treated a Medicare patient, then received illegal Medicare payments resulting from that claim.
The settlement stems from a whistleblower lawsuit brought by Atul Jain, MD, an ophthalmologist and former partner at SDRA. Dr. Jain will receive $170,778.27 of the $948,768.18 settlement.