False Claims Act

C.R. Bard Inc. (BCR) has agreed to pay around $48.3 million to resolve whistleblower allegations that it gave kickbacks to doctors and other customers to buy the company's radiation treatment for prostate cancer, the Justice Department said.The Murray Hill, N.J., medical-device company allegedly gave customers free medical equipment, guaranteed rebates and educational research grants in exchange for using its brachytherapy seeds, a radiation treatment, according to a federal complaint unsealed Monday. The hospitals then submitted false reimbursement claims to Medicare, the government said."They were not only engaged in kickbacks, but they had the government fund the kickbacks by having customers pay inflated prices," said Peter Chatfield, an attorney with Philips & Cohen LLP, who represented a C.R. Bard employee who filed the suit in 2006.Bard spokesman Scott T. Lowry said the company was pleased to finalize the agreement with the government, and is committed to enhancing and improving...

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