Lexington Medical Center in Columbia S.C. has agreed to pay $17 million to settle a federal civil fraud lawsuit.
A whistleblower physician formerly employed by the medical center filed the suit. The U.S. Department of Justice had joined in the lawsuit against the hospital.
In settling the case, Lexington Medical Center admitted no fault.
The details of the case and settlement were reported July 22 by Columbia, S.C.’s hometown newspaper, The State.
“The settlement, in which Lexington Medical Center expressly denied any wrongdoing, allowed the medical center to avoid continued costly litigation that could have lasted for several years,” hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Wilson said in a statement.
The statement stressed none of the matters covered in the lawsuit were related “to the quality of care provided by Lexington Medical Center or inaccurate billing.”
David Hammett, a neurologist and a 2001 Wake Forest Medical School graduate, brought the suit against Lexington Medical Center.
Hammett alleged the hospital had submitted illegal claims to Medicare and other federal health insurance programs. He also claimed Lexington Medical Center required him and other doctors to send patients to its hospital facilities for additional tests.
Doctors would be paid for those referrals, a practice prohibited by federal law.
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