A Minnesota dermatology practice, its owner, and chief executive agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle allegations, first brought by two whistleblowers, that the company violated the Anti-Kickback Statue by making false claims to Medicare.
Tareen Dermatology (TD), dermatologist and owner Mohiba Tareen, and CEO Basir Tareen, also settled charges of wrongful termination and retaliation against one of the whistleblowers who served as a billing specialist, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and state of Minnesota alleged in a complaint.
The case resolves claims brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Carrie Cremin, TD’s former director of laser therapy, and Susanne Polzin, its former billing specialist. The pair will receive an undisclosed amount of the settlement total, the DOJ announced in a press release Friday.
The details: In 2011, the Tareens founded TD, which allegedly provided unnecessary services to patients, paid patients kickbacks to file hardship claims and avoid co-pays, and up-charged services to receive larger reimbursements, according to the amended complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
TD also allegedly paid kickbacks to staff for pharmacy referrals and had physician assistants perform services on their own, even when a dermatologist was not on site, per the complaint.
Polzin was fired in December 2021 after she flagged the alleged misconduct. Cremin alleged that Mohiba Tareen directed her to change billing codes if a service was rejected by Medicare for payment, among other alleged misconduct that resulted in false claims being filed.
TD couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
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Amended Complaint
PDF, Size 2.58 mb
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