ResMed Corp. to Pay the United States $37.5 Million for Allegedly Causing the Filing of False Claims Related to the Sale of Equipment for Sleep Apnea and Other Sleep-Related Disorders

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today that ResMed Corp., a manufacturer of durable medical equipment (DME) based in San Diego, California, has agreed to pay more than $37.5 million to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations for paying kickbacks to DME suppliers, sleep labs and other health care providers.   

The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits the knowing and willful payment of any remuneration to induce the referral of services or items that are paid for by a federal healthcare program, such as Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE.  Claims submitted to these programs in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute give rise to liability under the False Claims Act.

The settlement resolves allegations that ResMed:  (a) provided DME companies with free telephone call center services and other free patient outreach services that enabled these companies to order resupplies for their patients with sleep apnea; (b) provided sleep labs with free and below-cost positive airway pressure masks and diagnostic machines, as well as free installation of these machines; (c) arranged for, and fully guaranteed the payments due on, interest-free loans that DME suppliers acquired from third-party financial institutions for the purchase of ResMed equipment; and (d) provided non-sleep specialist physicians free home sleep testing devices referred to as “ApneaLink.”

“When companies give free equipment to doctors for the sole purpose of generating business and increasing their bottom lines, federal health insurance programs should not foot the bills.  This case rights that alleged wrong by ResMed,” stated United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard P. Donoghue.  “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable companies that put profits before patients.”

“Paying any type of illegal remuneration to induce patient referrals undermines the integrity of our nation’s health care system,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division.  “When a patient receives a prescription for a device to treat a health care condition, the patient deserves to know that the device was selected based on quality of care considerations and not on illegal payments from equipment manufacturers.”

The agreement resolves five lawsuits originally brought by whistleblowers under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act.  The False Claims Act permits private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States and to share in the recovery.  The whistleblowers will collectively receive a roughly $6.2 million share of the settlement. 

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

The settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice; the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of New York, the District of South Carolina, the Southern District of California and the Northern District of Iowa; the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Counsel to the Inspector General and Office of Investigations; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Defense Health Agency Office of General Counsel; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.  

The lawsuits resolved by this settlement are captioned United States, et al., ex rel. Ameer v. ResMed, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:15-CV-04842-MBS (D.S.C.); United States, et al., ex rel. Baker v. ResMed, Inc., et al., Case No. 3:16-CV-00987-MBS (D.S.C.); United States, et al., ex rel. Ross v. ResMed, Inc., Case No. 16-CV-1988-W (JLB) (S.D. Cal.); United States ex rel. Meyer v. ResMed, Inc., et al., Case No. 17-CV-12-MWB (N.D. Iowa); and United States, et al., ex rel. Ottavio, et al. v. ResMed, Inc., Case No. CV 17-5734 (E.D.N.Y.).  The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.