Commenting on the agreements, Olympus Corporation of the Americas’ President and CEO Nacho Abia said, “Olympus leadership acknowledges the Company’s responsibility for the past conduct, which does not represent the values of Olympus or its employees”.
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Federal prosecutors said Tuesday’s settlement is the largest ever for violations of the U.S. Anti-Kickback Statute, according to Kaiser Health News.
Olympus and its subsidiary “dropped the compliance ball and failed to have in place policies and practices that would have prevented the substantial kickbacks and bribes they paid”, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey said in a statement.
The Latin American misstep will cost OCA another $22.8 million, and a deferred prosecution agreement, which includes certain compliance measures. “At the same time, the deferred prosecution agreement takes into account the companies’ cooperation and commitment to fully functional corporate compliance”. In one situation, a doctor who played a major role in a NY medical center’s decisions to buy equipment received free use of $400,000 in equipment from Olympus for his private practice, the Justice Department said.
Doctors and hospital officials got lavish junkets, fancy meals, research grants and free equipment, prosecutors and Slowik alleged.
According to the government, the kickbacks resulted in an additional $600 million in sales revenue and profits of $230 million.
“Olympus is committed to complying with all laws and regulations and to adhering to our own rigorous code of conduct”, Abia said.
The fines included a $312.4 million criminal penalty and $310.8 million to settle civil claims.
The federal share of the civil settlement is $267,288,323, and Olympus will pay $43,512,053 million to participating states that contributed to the falsely claimed Medicaid payments at issue.
Slowik’s suit said that when he was named compliance officer, it was a new position at the company and he had no resources or training to perform the job. Olympus conspired to violate a USA law that prohibits companies from making payments to individuals, such as doctors, who can help to facilitate the purchase of equipment to be paid for by US health care programs.
A Senate investigation released in January identified 19 scope-related outbreaks at US medical centers from 2012 to 2015 that sickened almost 200 patients with drug-resistant infections. No mention was made of the company’s years-long difficulties with contaminated duodenoscopes and how it might relate to these bribery and kickback charges, although the DOJ is also conducting a separate investigation into that.
About Olympus and Olympus Corporation of the Americas Olympus is a global medical device and precision imaging technology leader, designing and delivering innovative solutions to enhance people’s lives every day.
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The whistleblower was the company’s former corporate compliance officer, who filed a federal lawsuit under provisions of the False Claims Act to alert the government of Olympus’s non-compliance of the U.S. Anti-Kickback Statute. OCA cooperated with the investigation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which concerned activities between 2006 and 2011 to induce the purchase of Olympus products.
