North Carolina doctor will pay more than $600,000 over laboratory kickback scheme allegations

Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A North Carolina doctor agreed to pay more than a half million dollars in fines to settle with the federal government over allegations he and his practice took covered-up kickbacks from a medical company, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.

Illegal kickback payments to healthcare providers "can undermine the integrity of taxpayer-funded healthcare programs and medical decision making," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department's Civil Division, said in a release .

Dr. Eric Troyer, a physician for more than 30 years, agreed to pay the U.S. government $429,254 and an additional $195,746 to his home state to settle allegations waged against him that he violated the False Claims Act as part of a kickback scheme with a medical company with which he did business.

According to Troyer Medical in North Carolina, Troyer is "one of the first physicians to be certified in addiction medicine."

Troyer is board-certified to treat any form of addiction and weight loss and has been a primary and family care physician for more than 30 years.

The DOJ contends that from August 2015 to November 2021, Troyer and his Landis, N.C., medical practice allegedly accepted kickbacks from a laboratory in Anderson, S.C., in return for Troyer's referrals back to that laboratory.

According to the settlement, the alleged "kickbacks" to Troyer and his office had been disguised as payments for supposed "phlebotomy services," office rental space and the lease of a chemistry analyzer machine.

What's more, the DOJ says an analyzer device had "resulted in the submission of false or fraudulent laboratory testing claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE," which the Justice Department says is a violation of the False Claims Act.

The act's Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and other federally funded healthcare programs, according to the DOJ.

Troyer's nearly $200,000 remittance to the state was to acknowledge how Troyer's alleged scheme had partially defrauded the state, which jointly funded claims paid by North Carolina's Medicaid program.

The multi-agency effort was a result of coordinated efforts between different DOJ branches, the South Carolina U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, Medicaid's investigative division and the North Carolina Attorney General's Office.

"Doctors need to make decisions based on what's best for their patients, not based on what puts more money back in their own pockets," Attorney General Josh Stein said Wednesday in a statement .

Stein, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in this year's election against Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson , added that he was "pleased" the money lost through the alleged misdeed is "being returned to the people."

According to the Justice Department, the United States already resolved other allegations with separate physicians in South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas who the government said received kickbacks from the same medical laboratory.

The U.S. government's effort in the pursuit of Troyer, it says, illustrates its emphasis and willingness to combat healthcare fraud.

A special federal agent says "improper financial relationships" between physicians and laboratories "undermine patient healthcare and trust."

"Kickbacks should never be a consideration in a medical practice selecting a company for laboratory testing," Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the DOD's Office of Inspector General of the Mid-Atlantic field office said.

Dillard added that his agency and other law enforcement, "will continue to bring to justice medical providers who illegally enrich themselves at the expense of the American taxpayer and well-being of our Warfighters."