Tri-City Cardiology, P.C., Medicare Fraud, Arizona 2023

Physicians should not prioritize profit over patient needs. That’s the stark message from Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division as he revealed that a Phoenix-based physician group, Tri-City Cardiology, P.C., along with three individual physicians, have agreed to pay $4.75 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by performing medically unnecessary vein ablations.

“Paying for unnecessary medical procedures reduces federal programs’ capacity to pay for truly necessary procedures,” said Timothy Courchaine, United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. “When medical providers do not respect the difference between the two and bill in the interest of their own bottom line instead of their patients, the United States Attorney’s Office has pursued and will continue to pursue appropriate recoveries to protect taxpayer funds.”

The civil settlement announced today resolves allegations that, from January 1, 2017, to April 27, 2022, Dr. Jaskamal Kahlon, Dr. Joshua D. Cohen, and Dr. M. Joshua Berkowitz knowingly performed ablations on perforator veins that did not qualify for treatment under accepted standards of medical practice.

Perforator veins are small veins that connect deep and superficial leg veins and require treatment only in certain circumstances. The United States contends that Tri-City and the physicians acted knowingly in incorrectly measuring or documenting in medical records the duration of outward blood flow, the diameter of veins, patient symptoms, and conservative therapy measures, which gave the appearance that the ablations met accepted medical standards and were justified.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, with assistance from HHS-OIG.

The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.

The United States Attorney’s Office encourages anyone with information about potential healthcare fraud to contact them. Tips and complaints can be reported to HHS at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

Related Federal Cases