Hope Cancer Institute to Settle False Healthcare Claims for $2.9M

Kansas-based Hope Cancer Institute and its owner Dr. Raj Sadasvian have agreed to pay $2.9 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly submitted or caused the submission of false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, the U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday.

The settlement resolves allegations that Sadasivan and Hope Cancer Institute submitted claims to federal health benefit programs for chemotherapy drugs that were not provided to federal health care beneficiaries.  Sadasivan allegedly instructed the employees of Hope Cancer Institute to bill for a predetermined amount of cancer drugs at certain dosage levels, when lower dosages of these drugs were actually provided to beneficiaries.   As a result of these instructions, Hope Cancer Institute submitted inflated claims to federal health care programs for drugs that were not actually provided to patients.

The lawsuit was originally filed by three former employees of Hope Cancer Institute under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.  The Act allows private parties with knowledge of fraud against the government to sue on behalf of the government and share in the recovery.  The whistleblowers’ portion of the settlement has not yet been determined.

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 andhow you can take action.