Florida’s Adventist Health System will pay $5.4 million to settle claims that it allowed patients to undergo radiation cancer treatment that was not supervised by radiation oncologists, the U.S Department of Justice announced.
According to the DOJ, nonprofit Adventist violated the False Claims Act by failing to properly supervise those treatments.
Dr. Michael Montejo, a radiation oncologist and former employee of Florida Oncology Network P.A., alerted the authorities about the situation, and will receive $1 million from the settlement for blowing the whistle.
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The DOJ said the unsupervised procedures took place between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2013 at several Florida locations, including Altamonte Springs, Daytona Beach, Deland, Kissimmee, Orange City, Orlando, Palm Coast and Winter Park.
“Medicare and TRICARE patients deserve high quality health care,” said U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III of the Middle District of Florida in a statement. “We will not tolerate providers recklessly cutting corners, particularly when furnishing such critical medical services as radiation oncology.”
Adventist operates in Florida as Florida Hospital.
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