Medical practice paying $300,000 to settle civil allegations of fraud

A Las Vegas medical practice has agreed to pay about $300,000 to resolve civil allegations of health care fraud involving the Medicare system.

According to a statement released Friday by the U.S. attorney's office in Nevada, Emery Steckler Medical Institute, which does business in Las Vegas as Internal Medicine Associates, made the agreement as part of a settlement with the Justice Department.

From January 2003 through December 2006, according to the Justice Department, the medical practice submitted claims to Medicare and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program for the performance of tests on patients in the absence of medical necessity. The claims involved cholesterol tests.

The settlement did not include an admission of guilt by the health care providers.

In 2008, three physicians who previously worked at Internal Medicine Associates also entered into settlement agreements with the Justice Department to resolve the same civil allegations. Mark Handelman settled for $39,070; Glen Meyers settled for $13,341; and James Eels settled for $10,854.

The case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.