In July of this year, the medical device company C.R. Bard and its wholly owned subsidiary Pro Seed Inc, agreed to pay $48.26 to settle claims that it knowingly caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare for Brachytherapy seeds used to treat prostate cancer.
According to whistleblower Julie Darity, a former Bard contract administration officer, the company captured a large percentage of the brachytherapy seed market from 1998 forward by paying huge kickbacks to healthcare providers.
She alleged that the company offered physicians unrestricted grants, rebates, advertising campaigns and even free medical equipment all with the idea of getting providers to buy Bard seeds at inflated prices.
In addition in the complaint filed in this case, it alleges that Bard also offered equipment on loan for extended periods at no cost to customers. It also alleges that Bard used rebates as inducements for the customer to purchase its brachytherapy seeds. In exchange for this, the company was able to sell the seeds at higher cost.
Darity received $10.1 million or 21% of the governments recovery as a whistleblower under the False Claims Act.
