A logo sign outside of the headquarters of Essilor of America in Dallas, Texas, on May 29, 2017. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar. (PHOTO: Sipa via AP Images)
A logo sign outside of the headquarters of Essilor of America in Dallas, Texas, on May 29, 2017. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar. (PHOTO: Sipa via AP Images)
Colorado will get more than $1 million in settlement money from an optical lens firm that the Attorney General Office's said paid providers kickbacks so they would refer patients to the company.
That resulted in submitting false claims to the Colorado Medicaid program, Phil Weiser's office said.
Under the settlement, Dallas-based Essilor, which manufactures optical lenses, agreed to pay 35 states $22 million, plus interest, Weiser's office said.
“Kickbacks like those Essilor offered can harm consumers by leaving them with products that are not in their best interest. In this case, the kickbacks affected some of the most vulnerable Coloradans,” Weiser said in a news release. “Our office will continue to hold accountable companies that use such underhanded tactics to defraud the state’s Medicaid program.”
Essilor faced allegations that, between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2016, the company offered to pay or paid optometrists and ophthalmologists to purchase Essilor products for their patients, who included Medicaid beneficiaries.
Weiser said that action violated the federal and Colorado’s false claims statutes.
This settlement arose out of whistleblower lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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