Illinois Whistleblower Claim Targets Doctors, MRI Testing Centers

By Katie Hauser

Published on January 18, 2007

The suit, filed by the owner of a competing radiology center, alleges that the defendant companies worked with doctors to over-charge insurance companies for MRIs, and that the doctors kept the difference for their own profit. The suit also claims that the doctors ordered unnecessary MRIs and other testing to increase their earnings.

The lawsuit was filed in February 2006, and the state of Illinois joined as a plaintiff this week. The suit names no doctors. Illinois state officials say that the problem stretches far beyond the 20 testing centers named in the suit, and that it is a sign of a national epidemic of healthcare fraud. Under Illinois state law, each fraudulent claim billed to an insurance company could pose a penalty as high as $10,000. An investigation is currently being conducted to determine the full scope of the fraud.

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