Houston radiologist Dr. Jack Baker has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle claims that he violated the False Claims Act, antikickback and Stark laws, and the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act between 2002 and 2010.
According to an announcement from Kenneth Magidson, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, the allegations included paying illegal compensation to up to 17 doctors to induce them to refer patients to Fairmont Diagnostic Center and Open MRI, an imaging center he owned and operated.
The settlement resolves allegations made against Baker and Fairmont in a qui tam (whistleblower) lawsuit filed in 2010 in federal court by Dr. Philip Blum and Dr. David Spinks, practicing physicians who refer patients to imaging centers such as Fairmont, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Blum and Spinks will receive 20% of the settlement proceeds.
Baker has also agreed to a voluntary suspension from the Medicare and Medicaid programs for six years.
