Friday, January 26, 2018

Two Northern California Urologists Agree To Pay More Than $1 Million To Settle Civil False Claims Act Allegations Related To Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) Referrals for Medicare Patients


On January 23, 2018, Drs. Aytac Apaydin and Stephen Worsham, urologists based in Northern California, agreed to a civil compromise with no admission of liability in which they will pay $1.085 million to resolve allegations that they submitted and caused the submission of false claims to Medicare for image guided radiation therapy (IGRT). 

IGRT is used to treat patients who are diagnosed with cancer, including prostate cancer patients. The government alleged that these IGRT claims were referred and billed in violation of the physician self-referral law (commonly known as the “Stark Law”) and the Anti-Kickback Statute.

The factual background according to the Department of Justice is that Drs. Apaydin and Worsham own and operate Salinas Valley Urology Associates (SVUA) in Salinas, California. They also owned Advance Radiation Oncology Center (AROC), located in Salinas, California, which dissolved in 2016.  

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