The estate of an urologist agreed to settle allegations he submitted false claims related to lithotripsy procedures, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the middle district of Florida.
Four details:
1. Patrick Hunter, MD, was accused of performing kidney stone procedures without medical necessity and participating in an illegal kickback arrangement, according to a Jan. 22 news release from the U.S. attorney's office. He submitted claims for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy between January 2010 and April 2016 without medical necessity, and in some cases there were no kidney stones present in the patients, prosecutors stated.
2. The federal government also alleged Dr. Hunter performed lithotripsy procedures at Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery in exchange for payments from the center, which violates the Anti-Kickback Statute.
3. Dr. Hunter died in March 2019, and his estate has agreed to pay $1.75 million to resolve claims against him.
4. The allegations arose from a whistleblower lawsuit. The whistleblower will receive $385,000 of the settlement.
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