A Hawthorne-based physician has settled allegations that he violated the False Claims Act by receiving kickbacks and other improper payments in exchange for referring patients to Memorial Hospital of Gardena. Dr. Ashok Kumar paid $215,228 on March 1 to settle the allegations brought against him in a whistleblower lawsuit that Memorial Hospital of Gardena provided compensation to Kumar, whom they hired as a medical director, that both exceeded the fair market value of his services and was an attempt to incentivize him to refer patients to their hospital. The lawsuit alleged that Kumar violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute as well as the Physician Self-Referral Law. The Anti-Kickback Statute imposes civil liability on those who willingly offer, solicit, receive or pay any sort of compensation in exchange for the referral of services provided by a federal healthcare program, including Medicare. The Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, bans doctors from referring patients to receive designated healthcare services payable by Medicare or Medicaid from entities with which the doctor or an immediate family member has a financial relationship.
