Phillips and Cohen partner Jeffrey Dickstein discusses UPMC’s $8.5 million settlement with Reuters.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the head of its cardiothoracic surgery department have agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle claims that they fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid for complex surgeries.
The settlement resolves a 2019 whistleblower lawsuit by a former UPMC doctor, claiming that UPMC regularly allowed James Luketich to book as many as three complex surgeries at the same time, going back and forth between patients, not participating in key parts of the surgeries, and sometimes keeping patients under unnecessary anesthesia.
Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti in Pittsburgh called the settlement “a just conclusion” to prosecutors’ investigation. Jeffrey Dickstein of Phillips & Cohen, a lawyer for whistleblower Jonathan D’Cunha, said it “finally brings meaningful oversight of Dr. Luketich and UPMC.”
Read the entire article, “Hospital, top surgeon to pay $8.5 mln in whistleblower suit over simultaneous surgeries,” Reuters, February 27, 2023.