BOSTON (Legal Newsline) – Hollister Inc., a company that manufactures disposable health care products, and Byram Healthcare Centers Inc., a company that supplies medical products, will pay $11.44 million and $9,372,882.50 to resolve allegations of paying and receiving unlawful kickbacks, the Justice Department announced.
“This settlement demonstrates the Justice Department’s continuing determination to prevent manufacturers and suppliers of medical devices covered by federal health care programs from paying or receiving kickbacks,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said. “We will not permit such illegal payments to taint the decision-making of those who serve the beneficiaries of these important programs.”
According to Department of Justice, Hollister paid kickbacks to Byram in exchange for marketing promotions, conversion campaigns and other referrals of patients to Hollister’s ostomy and continence care products.
“The FBI will aggressively investigate companies that engage in kickback schemes at the expense of both patients and taxpayers,” Special Agent in Charge Harold H. Shaw of the FBI’s Boston Field Division said. “Those who seek to exploit the nation’s health care system through bribes or other fraudulent conduct will be held accountable for their actions.”