U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida issued the following announcement on Dec. 19.
United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Dr. Irfan Siddiqui and his vascular surgery practice, Heart and Vascular Institute of Florida (HAVI), have agreed to pay the United States $2,230,000 to resolve allegations that, from January 2, 2011, to June 30, 2018, Dr. Siddiqui and HAVI violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to federal health programs for reimbursement of vein ablation procedures.
“Our Civil Division aggressively pursues medical providers whose practices damage vital federal health programs,” said U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez. “This settlement is an excellent example of the robust civil health care fraud enforcement that has long been a central part of our district’s mission.”
The settlement announced resolves allegations that Dr. Siddiqui and HAVI submitted claims to Medicare and TRICARE for vein ablation services that contained false diagnoses and symptoms. Dr. Siddiqui and HAVI also up-coded evaluation and management service claims to levels of service that were not supported by patients’ medical records, and submitted claims for vein ablation procedures that were medically unnecessary or performed by unqualified personnel, or both.
Original source can be found here.