ASD Specialty Healthcare, Kickback Scheme, Massachusetts 2023

BOSTON – ASD Specialty Healthcare, LLC, doing business as Besse Medical, has agreed to pay $1.67 million to resolve allegations that it provided inventory management systems to retina practices at no cost to induce them to purchase drugs from Besse, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.

According to the settlement agreement, ASD admitted and accepted responsibility for certain facts providing the basis of the settlement. In May 2017, ASD acquired an inventory management system known as PODIS, which was specialized for retina practices to manage inventory of, and reimbursements for, high-cost injectable medications such as drugs that treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).

Through November 2023, ASD offered PODIS at no cost to customers who entered into “prime vendor agreements” that required them to purchase a certain percentage of their specialty drugs from ASD. ASD required customers who did not enter into prime vendor agreements to pay a monthly fee for access to PODIS.

Following its acquisition of PODIS, ASD then discontinued access to PODIS for non-ASD customer retina practices that had used PODIS prior to the acquisition, including customers who offered to pay a monthly fee to continue using PODIS.

The government alleges that ASD caused physicians to submit false claims to Medicare, TRICARE and the Department of Veterans Affairs induced by these kickbacks.

“Pharmaceutical distributors cannot violate the law to gain a financial advantage,” said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “Offering improper incentives to health care customers can increase health care costs and disadvantage competitors who are playing by the rules. Our office is committed to continue pursuing these investigations with our federal law enforcement partners.”

Defendant: ASD Specialty Healthcare, LLC (d/b/a Besse Medical)

Criminal Charges: Violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute

City and State: BOSTON, Massachusetts

Exact Date: November 2023

Sentence or Outcome: Paid $1.67 million to resolve allegations

Dollar Amount: $1.67 million

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/asd-specialty-healthcare-dba-besse-medical-agrees-pay-167-million-allegedly-paying