News Briefs: September 23, 2019

Family physician Augusto Castrillon, who owned the Castrillon Family Clinic in Mission, Texas, until recently, agreed to pay $2.133 million to settle false claims allegations over medically unnecessary diagnostic tests, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said Sept. 9. After conducting a review of claims data, the U.S. attorney’s office said it concluded that Castrillon allegedly was a “significant statistical outlier for various metrics. He appeared to be ordering an excessive number of diagnostic tests – many of which were highly complicated and ones which only trained specialists such as neurologists or cardiologists typically order. Claims data also indicated these tests were ordered for patients on a recurring basis.” The settlement resolves allegations he billed Medicare for medically unnecessary transcranial doppler imaging studies, electromyography and nerve conduction studies and autonomic function testing between June 2009 and June 2015. Castrillon didn’t admit to liability in the settlement. Visit http://bit.ly/2krPshn.

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