A South Carolina chiropractor that plead guilty and was convicted under the False Claims Act has agreed to a $9 million consent judgement, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to information and the plea agreement filed by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, chiropractor Daniel McCollum admitted to engaging in a conspiracy to pay illegal kickbacks and to defraud health care programs by billing for unnecessary medical services. McCollum still faces a maximum criminal penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. A sentencing date has not been set.
"Daniel McCollum faces both a $9 million judgment and up to five years in prison after pleading guilty under the False Claims Act. He'll be sentenced at a later date," Post and Courier Greenville reported.
McCollum owned and operated pain management clinics, laboratories and a pharmacy in South Carolina and also operated pain management clinics in North Carolina and Tennessee.
On May 31, 2019, the United States filed a civil complaint alleging that McCollum violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by causing the submission of false claims to federal health care programs arising from kickbacks he paid for urine drug testing (UDT) referrals. The complaint also accuse McCollum of violating Stark Law by receiving referrals from physicians with whom McCollum had financial relationships with, and claims for UDT and other services that were not medically necessary.
"Improper financial relationships between health care providers and laboratories can lead to overutilization and increase the cost of healthcare services paid for by the taxpayers," Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said, according to the press release. "The provision of medical services and prescriptions should be based on a patient’s medical needs rather than the financial interests of providers."
