Nevada Heart & Vascular Center Agrees To Pay $2.5 Million Settlement Claim Involving Medicare Kickback Scheme

Nevada Heart & Vascular Center is celebrating
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will hold accountable fraudulent medical companies that seek to line their pockets by undermining the integrity of health care programs,” said U.S. Attorney Trutanich. “We work closely with our law enforcement partners to stop illicit activity and I encourage individuals with information of fraud to make a report to authorities.”
From September 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013, Nevada Heart & Vascular Center (Resh), LLP (NHVC) was alleged to have referred Medicare patients to genetic testing companies Natural Molecular Testing Corp. and Iverson Genetic Diagnostics, Inc., in exchange for payments to the practice made by the testing companies. The scheme was alleged to be in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the civil False Claims Act.
NHVC has agreed to pay the United States $2.5 million to settle its potential liability in this matter.
This Settlement Agreement is neither an admission of liability by NHVC nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded.

Why are Indian doctors so greedy? So many of them have no morality or ethics. In proportion of other physicians, Indian doctors are more likely to be involved in committing fraud. It’s also too bad other members of our community respect them, and are even jealous of them. Generally, bad behavior is our cultural problem.
Not true!!!
They’re always bad apples in all professions. But to lump it as all Indian doctors are greedy is stupid and shows that you’re jealous.
Congratulation to Vegasdesi on their 15th anniversary and many thanks for the community services they have rendered thru these years. Please keep up the Good work and our best wishes to Nigam and company who are the backbone of this entity.
I am a Cardiologist practicing in Las Vegas. I have no relation to this case or the group involved. Three things
1. Please note that this group has physicians from all ethnicities. So it is not fair to blame all ‘Indian doctors’ for this case. Go to Nevadaheart.com/physicians
2. It is not fair to paint a profession with a broad brush based on ethnicity just because someone might have had a bad experience with someone from that group. As a general rule, Indian physicians are held in high esteem by the patients we serve in this country. All too often, my patients who just moved to Vegas tell me how happy they are to find an Indian doctor, because they so loved their previous doctor who was also an Indian. They say this before they have even had a chance to evaluate my abilities.
3. As anyone who has ever been accused of anything will tell you, most of these cases are too complicated to do be done justice to by a news article. That is why Vegas Desi has aptly noted that “This Settlement Agreement is neither an admission of liability by NHVC nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded”.
This is the third time NV Heart has been in the news. They were featured in the New York Times around 8 years ago due insisting on using defibrillator companies which cost much more than other equally good defibrillators…like $20,000 more per unit. Then they were in the News about bribery and getting an 8 Million contract at UMC when the other bid was 3 Million. But NV Heart can afford to pay the big attorneys and get off easy…
The Indian Doctors in the Group are WELL AWARE of the criminal behavior and choose to remain associated, this is conclusive proof of their guilt.
Yes, not all physicians of NV Heart are not Indians, but major owners are. They should be held responsible for all good and bad things. Very frequently you read news about some Indian physician being accused or convicted of fraud in this country. No one has done any study if Indian physicians are engaged in more, in proportion to their numbers, white collar crimes than all other practicing doctors. But it seems significant enough to make a trend or conclusion. Excusing unethical and illegal behavior by “bad apple” does not wash when only in Las Vegas we learn about physicians’ legal problems routinely. It is the biggest reason doctors are losing respect of our community. Now a days medicine is a pure business, often full of greed and immorality, not like it used to be, to serve patients.
Enron was brought down by illegal, unethical and stupid actions of its top brass. Majority of those people belonged to a certain ethnic group. Madoff belonged to a certain ethnic group. I would not impugn the character of entirety of those ethnic groups.
In the last two lines, you express your opinion about the medical profession. While it makes me sad to hear it, you sure are entitled to it, and I am sure there are good reasons for that.
As we are all going to need medical care at some point in our life, I hope and pray that you can find the physicians that you can respect