◆ Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana and its related companies and the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College have agreed to pay $531,241 to settle false claims allegations related to their operation of University Health Hospital in Shreveport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Western Louisiana said Sept. 26. “The Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana and LSU were alleged to have sought and obtained payment from Medicare for procedures that required reporting to a qualified registry. The procedures that they failed to report involved implantable automatic defibrillators, which are electronic devices designed to detect and treat life-threatening tachyarrhythmias,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said. “Medicare coverage for implanting the defibrillators was part of a coverage expansion in 2005, which required that the procedure be studied and analyzed through data submitted to qualified registries.” The case was set in motion by a whistleblower. http://bit.ly/2nQDP52.