HOT SPRINGS -- A cardiologist who formerly treated patients at National Park Medical Center has agreed to settle allegations of falsely submitting claims to the Medicare Program for placing cardiac stents in patients where it was medically unnecessary, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee said Thursday in a news release.
Dr. Jeffrey G. Tauth, 60, agreed to pay $900,000 as part of the settlement and "will enter into an Integrity Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services," the release said.
In the release, U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis said one of the top priorities of his office is health care fraud.
"We will aggressively pursue all those who are involved in fraud against government programs," he said. "Whether it be a corporate entity or an individual provider, those who seek to exploit patients and federal health care programs for financial gain can expect to be the focus of our civil and criminal enforcement efforts."
According to the release, Tauth alleged to have been involved in the submission of claims for cardiac stents he inserted into Medicare patients that were not medically necessary from September 2013 through August 2019.
Tauth, in a statement released Thursday by his attorney, John Kyte, maintained the allegations made by the hospital are false.
"I am pleased to have reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice regarding allegations brought to them by my former employer, National Park Medical Center," he said. "The settlement agreement specifically states that it is not 'an admission of liability' by me, and I remain steadfast in my position that the allegations made by my former employer are false and without merit."
Thursday's news release said, "The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability."
"I have chosen to enter into the settlement agreement because the legal process initiated by National Park's allegations has been emotionally and financially damaging to me and my family in the extreme, and a settlement puts an end to the delays, uncertainties, inconveniences and expenses of protracted litigation. Settlement is in the best interests of my family, my patients and my medical practice," Tauth said.
Lifepoint Health, the Brentwood, Tennessee-based company that acquired National Park Medical Center and Hot Springs Cardiology Associates in November 2018, gave a voluntary disclosure of the alleged false claims in November 2019.
The hospital and Hot Springs Cardiology entered into a settlement in October 2020 for the alleged violations and agreed to pay $14,669,586, which includes over $9 million in restitution, according to the news release.