Myrtle Beach area doctor tied to alleged kickback scheme agrees to pay $400k to feds
A Myrtle Beach area doctor and his practices agreed to settle federal Medicare fraud allegations as part of a purported kickback scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice announced this week.
Dr. Gerald Congdon and his practices, Coastal Urgent Care in Pawleys Island and Coastal Wellness Center in Myrtle Beach, agreed to pay $400,000 to resolve accusations they received thousands of dollars during 2016-2021 disguised as office space rental and phlebotomy payments from a laboratory based in Anderson, S.C., in exchange for ordering testing, a DOJ press release states.
Additional details surrounding the allegations and settlement specifically with Congdon and his practices are not publicly available at this time, according to a DOJ spokeswoman.
Congdon told The Sun News that the allegations were related to him subleasing available office space in his building to the laboratory company, which he had no idea was illegal until DOJ officials presented the issue to him two years ago.
'If I'd have known it wasn't allowed, I wouldn't have done it,' he said.
The $400,000 he agreed to pay represented the rental income he had received from the laboratory, Congdon added.
'When the DOJ asks you for money, you give them your money,' he said.
Congdon said he's been a doctor in the Myrtle Beach area for nearly 30 years, and he's confident this won't impact his positive reputation in the community. Congdon has held a SC medical license since 1997 with no disciplinary actions filed against him, online licensing records show.
The settlement agreed to by Congdon and his practices were a group of settlements totaling more than $1.9 million recently announced by the DOJ that resolved allegations the parties violated the federal anti-kickback statute.
The statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving payments in exchange for referrals or services covered by Medicare and is intended to ensure medical providers' judgments aren't compromised by improper financial incentives, according to the DOJ.
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