FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:    Tuesday, May 03, 2016
CONTACT:  Sara Rabern (605)773-3215
   

  
OLYMPUS AMERICA, INC. PAYS $306 MILLION DOLLARS TO RESOLVE ALLEGATIONS OF ANTI-KICKBACK VIOLATIONS

PIERRE S.D. - Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that South Dakota has joined with other states and the federal government to settle United States et al., ex rel. John Slowik v. Olympus America, Inc., et al., 10-5994 (District of New Jersey). The whistleblower lawsuit alleged that Olympus, and certain of its subsidiaries, paid illegal kickbacks to healthcare providers.  Specifically, the civil lawsuit alleged that Olympus used improper financial incentives to induce doctors and hospital executives to buy a wide ranging array of its endoscopes and other surgical equipment (equipment primarily employed in the course of numerous hospital procedures), and to thereby unlawfully increase sales and gain market share. 

Under the settlement, Olympus agreed to pay $306 million to the United States and the States which will go to the Medicaid Program. The total portion of the settlement amount recovered by South Dakota is $165,564.94, of which $99,045.69 will be retained by the federal government as the federal Medicaid share. The remaining $66,519.25 will go to the state general fund to offset alleged Medicaid damages in this case.

A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) Team participated in the investigation and conducted the settlement negotiations with Olympus on behalf of the States and included representatives from the Offices of the Attorneys General for the states of California, Delaware, Indiana, New York, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

The South Dakota Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the South Dakota Department of Social Services assisted in recovering the settlement money.

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