Two former managers and the owner of a now-defunct physician group in North Carolina agreed to resolve allegations that they billed federal payers for medically unnecessary diagnostic tests, according to the Department of Justice.
Michael Smith, Codey Brown and Harrison Frank, MD, the former owner of Carolina Comprehensive Health Network in Charlotte, N.C., agreed to pay $900,000 to settle the allegations.
According to the Justice Department, the three violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare and Medicaid for unnecessary diagnostic procedures like positional nystagmus testing and nerve conduction testing. The fraudulent billing took place from May through November 2015, according to the Justice Department.
The allegations were originally brought by a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act.