BK Hospital Must Pay $17M In Chemo Kickback Scheme

BROOKLYN, NY - New York-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital has reached a settlement agreement with New York State, requiring the Park Slope-based hospital to pay over $17 million to resolve allegations that it doled out unlawful kickbacks to physicians at the hospital’s chemotherapy infusion center.

The hospital voluntarily self-disclosed the issue, officials said, although it’s not clear for how long the kickbacks were paid or when the hospital reported the scheme to authorities. $16.41 million of the settlement is to be paid to the federal government; another $890,000 will go to New York State.

“This settlement addresses a compensation scheme that incentivized physicians to make referrals for services based on how much they would be paid and were essentially kickbacks,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “New York-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital voluntarily self-disclosed the conduct to the United States, which allowed it to mitigate the penalties associated with the conduct.”

The kickback payments were made pursuant to a contract agreement that linked the compensation doctors received to the number of referrals the physicians made for services at the chemotherapy infusion center, Peace said.

The settlement also resolves claims that doctors at the infusion center failed to supervise the chemotherapy services.