Phillips Respironics, a manufacturer of durable medical equipment based in Pennsylvania, has paid $2,471,359.25 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by giving kickbacks to sleep laboratories. The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits paying money or giving goods to induce referrals for medical services or items covered by a federal healthcare program, such as Medicare, Medicaid, or TRICARE. Claims submitted to these programs in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute give rise to liability under the False Claims Act. The settlement resolves allegations that from 2016 through 2021, Philips RS North America LLC f/k/a Philips Respironics, Inc. provided sleep labs with free masks used to treat and diagnose sleep-related respiratory disorders to induce the labs’ physicians to write referrals or prescriptions for Respironics-brand masks that suppliers would fill and bill to federal healthcare programs.
