55 Hospitals to pay $34 Million to resolve whistleblower suit over kyphoplasty procedures over $150 million recovered to date

Fifty-five hospitals in the U.S. will pay more than $34 million to settle allegations that the health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare for khyphoplasty procedures. A kyphoplasty surgical procedure is designed to stop the pain caused by a spinal fracture using a special balloon fed to the vertebrae via a tube. In many cases, kyphoplasty can be performed safely and effectively as an outpatient procedure without any need for a more costly hospital admission. The government alleged that hospitals billed Medicare for for the more costly inpatient procedures in order to increase their Medicare billings. In addition to this settlement, the Justice Department also reached a settlement with 100 other hospitals totaling over $75 million and Medtronic Spine LLC also paid $75 million to settle allegations that the company defrauded Medicare by counseling hospital providers to perform the surgeries in patient. Two Whistleblowers are expected to receive over 20% of all moneys collected from these settlements as part of their reward allowed under the False Claims Act (FCA). Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers.