Department of Justice Press Release

For Immediate Release
September 30, 2009 United States Attorney's Office
District of New Jersey
Contact: (973) 645-2700

New Jersey Hospital to Pay $8.3 Million for Alleged Kickbacks and Causing Submission of False Claims to Medicare

WASHINGTON—The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has agreed to pay the government $8.3 million to settle allegations that it illegally paid kickbacks to cardiologists and caused the submission of false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.

UMDNJ’s University Hospital, which is located in Newark, N.J., is a state-licensed Level 1 Trauma Center. To maintain funding and accreditation from the state, University Hospital was dependent on the annual performance of a certain number of cardiac procedures, including cardiac catheterizations and cardiothoracic surgery.

The government alleged that beginning in 1995, University Hospital was experiencing a decline in these procedures, and to remedy the problem, embarked on a program to bring in more cardio surgery patients through part-time employment contracts with a number of community cardiologists. The government alleges that those employment contracts served as vehicles to pay illegal kickbacks to the cardiologists for their referrals.

“Today’s settlement reflects the Justice Department’s ongoing commitment to protect the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship,â€