TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) — Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Dec. 13 that her office reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Dr. Rasiklal Dhanji Nagda, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Ocala, after allegations of false claims.
According to Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Nagda submitted and received reimbursement for more than 700 claims to Medicaid for intrauterine devices that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Nagda purportedly ordered large quantities of Bayer’s Mirena IUDs from an online pharmacy via credit card on a monthly basis.
To be eligible for Medicaid reimbursement, products and services in the health care industry must be approved by the FDA. The Mirena IUDs are not intended for distribution in the United States. The product’s active ingredient, Levonorgestrel, was originally approved for use in 2000, but has yet to be approved for distribution.
Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was assisted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.