Kishor Vora, MD, owner of Owensboro (Ky.) Heart and Vascular and Owensboro Medical Practice, has paid $931,500 to settle a Medicare fraud case with the U.S. Justice Department for referring patients for genetic testing in exchange for an estimated $335,700 in kickbacks.
The DOJ's complaint states that Dr. Vora had allegedly committed the fraudulent scheme between May 2012 and March 2013 in order to maximize profits, according to a Jan. 4 news release from the Justice Department.
The complaint also alleges that Dr. Vora violated both the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute for accepting kickbacks from the National Molecular Testing Corporation in exchange for sending Medicare-reimbursed orders for pharmacogenomics testing.
Dr. Vora allegedly submitted medically unnecessary and unreasonable tests to NMTC in exchange for these illegal kickbacks, according to the Justice Department's statement.
He is said to have submitted 150 patients to NMTC for monthly testing for $150 per person, according to the Messenger Inquirer.
"I strongly disagreed with the government's position … [but] when the government offered a settlement, I chose to settle the lawsuit to avoid the continued expense and burden of fighting a lawsuit in federal court," Dr. Vora told Messenger Inquirer. "To be clear, the fact that I settled is not an admission of wrongdoing whatsoever. … I decided to put this legal matter behind me so I could focus on continuing to provide the best care to my patients, as I have done over the past 30 years."
The case was initially filed in 2020, with $3 million in false Medicare claims being discovered.