Sleep apnea company pays $ 37.5M to settle kickback lawsuits

SAN DIEGO — ResMed, a San Diego-based fully company that sells sleep apnea machines, pays $37.5 million to resolve allegations that it offered kickbacks to invent customer referrals, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The settlement covers five whistleblower court docket cases filed on behalf of the federal authorities. The court docket cases roar that the company offered free products and companies and equipment to medical equipment suppliers, sleep labs and diversifiedhealth careproviders in violation of the federal Spurious Claims Act.

“Paying any form of unlawful remuneration to induce affected person referrals undermines the integrity of our nation’shealth caresystem,” Jody Hunt, head of the U.S. Justice Division’s civil division, talked about in an announcement. “When a affected person receives a prescription for a system to treat a health care situation, the affected person deserves to recollect the fact that the system became chosen in line with quality of care concerns and now not on unlawful funds from equipment manufacturers.”

ResMed did now not acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement however agreed to tighten controls on its pricing and sales.

In an announcement, the company talked about it settled to preserve some distance flung from “the expense, concern and distraction” of continuing the lawful battle.

“Now we enjoy consistently acted in appropriate faith with sufferers and our valued potentialities, and we enact now not establish apart an tell to of this to impression our relationship with both,” the statement talked about.

Shares of ResMed done up 40 cents at $158.72 Wednesday on the Fresh York Inventory Change.