The former chief marketing officer of a Newcastle-based pharmacy company has agreed to settle a whistleblower lawsuit over kickbacks to doctors and copay waivers for federal health programs such as Medicare.
Carla Sparkler, former chief marketing officer of BioTek reMEDys Inc., agreed to a six-year federal medical exclusion that prohibits her from participating in any federally funded medical programs.
The government claims that from at least August 2015 to May 2020, Sparkler regularly paid out-of-pocket payments to induce Medicare and Tricare patients to purchase its drugs and services. He claimed that he had been exempted. Many of the specialty drugs offered by BioTek are expensive and require patients to pay large out-of-pocket costs.
The government said the biotech was “involved in a plan designed and implemented by Sparkler that would routinely waive these high co-payments, regardless of whether patients were experiencing financial hardship.” By doing so, the company claimed that the company tried to prevent patients from purchasing its medicines and services.
The filing alleges that BioTek provided gifts, dinners and free administrative and clinical support services to doctors, particularly Dr. David Tubby, who ran a neurology practice in Barra Cynwyd, Pa., to transfer patients to the pharmacy company. It shows that the company provided benefits in the form of .
Dr. Tubby paid an additional $480,000 to resolve these claims. The biotech and its CEO Chaitanya Gadde previously jointly agreed to pay $20 million, subject to solvency, to resolve the claims.
David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, said, “This settlement allows Mr. Sparkler to ensure that Biotech provides kickbacks, including unreasonable waivers of out-of-pocket costs, to encourage physicians to use the company's services. “This will resolve the suspicion that he orchestrated the plan.” “People who ignore the rules set by federal health care programs for personal gain raise costs for everyone and disadvantage patients. They lose their right to participate in those programs. ”
The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought based on: Quitam or the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by former BioTek employees Shantae M. Wyatt and Latoya Sparrow. Under these provisions, the private party receives a portion of the recovery.
Tips and complaints from any source regarding potential fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement may be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
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