Milwaukee pain clinic settles kickback lawsuit for $1.35M

A Milwaukee pain management clinic has agreed to pay at least $1.35 million to settle a lawsuit alleging its doctor ordered unnecessary drug tests for patients in exchange for kickbacks from the testing company.

The Center for Pain Management and its owner, Dr. Nosheen Hasan, were accused of receiving kickbacks from a laboratory used to test urine for drugs. In exchange, they were alleged to have ordered thousands of unnecessary tests for Medicare and Medicaid patients. The complaint said the false billings totaled more than $2 million.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin said Hasan and the clinics received more than $1 million in illegal kickbacks from Midwest Laboratory Sales & Consulting over five years for the tests.

The Eastern District of Wisconsin charged Hasan and her clinic under the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute in 2019. Hasan agreed to the settlement on Friday, although she and the clinic did not admit liability for the allegations.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Center for Pain Management and Hasan agreed to future contingent payments for the next five years. They also separately entered into an integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services to monitor compliance with Medicare and Medicaid.

The lawsuit resulted from a whistleblower complaint filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The whistleblower will receive a share of the settlement.

The government had previously resolved the claims against Midwest and its owner, who admitted to violating the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute.