On February 17, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced settlements with 51 hospitals related to implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), totaling over $23 million. Combined with previously announced settlements, the DOJ has now reached agreements with more than 500 hospitals totaling more than $280 million relating to ICDs. According to the DOJ, most of the 51 settling defendants were named in a False Claims Act qui tam lawsuit filed by a health care reimbursement consultant and a cardiac nurse. U.S. ex rel. Ford et al. v. Abbott Northwestern et al. No. 08-cv-20071 (S.D. Fla.) The settlements were a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida and HHS-Office of Inspector General as part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative. The DOJ described the investigation as being “heavily influenced by evidence-based medicine” that was “guided by a panel of leading cardiologists and the review of thousands of patients’ charts.”
