Garden State Cardiovascular Specialists Settle False Medicare Claims for $3.6M; Whistleblower to Get $648K

New Jersey-based Garden State Cardiovascular Specialists P.C. (“Garden State”), which owns and operates several facilities in New Jersey under the names NJ Medcare/NJ Heart, has agreed to pay over $3.6 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted or caused the submission of false claims to federal health care programs for tests that were not medically necessary, the U.S. Department of Justice announced last week.

The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Garden State and its principals, Jasjit Walia M.D. and Preet Randhawa M.D., submitted claims to Medicare for various cardiology diagnostic tests and procedures, including stress tests, cardiac catheterizations and external counterpulsation, which were not medically necessary. 

The allegations resolved by today’s settlement were raised in a lawsuit filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.  The act allows private citizens with knowledge of fraud to bring civil actions on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery.  The whistleblower, Cheryl Mazurek, will receive more than $648,000 as part of today’s settlement.

The Chanler Group, in association with the Hirst Law Group, represents whistleblowers who take action under the False Claims Act to report fraud committed against the federal and state governments.  We have years of experience representing whistleblower clients who expose every kind of fraud against the government, including health care fraud, contract fraud, and tax fraud.  Read more about our expertise in False Claims Act cases and how you can take action.