Date: March 9, 2016
WINK-TV News, a CBS affiliate based in Fort Myers, Fla., interviewed TELG whistleblower client Joseph Ting and TELG principal David Scher about the federal government’s $34.7 million settlement with cancer-care giant 21st Century Oncology, which had been accused of billing Medicare for unnecessary services.
Scher
Quoteworthy:
"Basically, 21st Century said, 'You will run this procedure on every patient, no matter what, regardless of whether the patient knows, whether the patient wants it, whether it actually does anything, or even whether a doctor has affirmatively approved it.' "
David L. Scher
[TRANSCRIPT]
21st Century Oncology settles whistle-blower lawsuit
Lois Thome (anchor): New on WINK News: For the very first time, the man who accused cancer-care giant 21st Century Oncology of billing Medicare for unnecessary radiation tests is speaking out.
Chris Cifatte (anchor): WINK News first broke that story last Friday, that the Fort Myers-based company owes the government $35 million for overbilling. WINK News investigative reporter Sam Smink spoke to that whistleblower today about why he came forward.
Joseph Ting: There is a financial incentive for 21st Century to do this test.
Sam Smink (reporter): Dr. Joseph Ting says shortly after 21st Century Oncology bought over his employer, South Florida Radiation Oncology, in 2014, they began automatically running a radiation procedure called GAMMA.
David Scher: Basically, 21st Century said, ‘You will run this procedure on every patient, no matter what, regardless of whether the patient knows, whether the patient wants it, whether it actually does anything, or even whether a doctor has affirmatively approved it.’
Smink: Dr. Ting says GAMMA was not medically necessary in most cases, or valuable to the patients. He said 21st Century billed Medicare anyway. Dr. Ting filed a whistleblower lawsuit after he says he brought his concerns to management and they were ignored.
Ting: I have grandchildren and so on. If each one of us don’t take a responsibility to protect the funding of the Medicare, you run out.
Smink: Dr. Ting says the GAMMA procedure did increase a patient’s treatment time without them being told what was happening.
Scher: And that’s uncomfortable and painful.
Smink: Sources tell WINK News that 21st Century had billed Medicare almost $75 million in the last few years for GAMMA. They have agreed to pay back $35 million. As part of the settlement, Dr. Ting will receive $7 million because he alerted the government.
Ting: They also have a notorious reputation of finance first and everything else second.
Thome: 21st Century said in a statement they agreed to the settlement with no admission of wrongdoing. They also said there was no harm to any patient related to this dispute, nor was the issue of patient harm ever a component of the dispute.
