Health Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTI-KICKBACK PROHIBITION—SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS: Florida ophthalmology practice, owner to pay $350K to settle kickback allegations, (Sep 16, 2026)

By Sherri M. Schroeder, J.D.

St. Michael's Eye & Laser Institute and its owner admitted to paying a medical diagnostics company kickbacks to induce referrals for transcranial doppler tests.

St. Michael's Eye & Laser Institute, Inc., located in Largo, Florida, and its ophthalmologist owner have agreed to pay $350,000 to the United States to settle allegations that the practice and owner violated the False Claim Act's (FCA's) Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) by knowingly and willfully soliciting or receiving remuneration in return for referring patients for Medicare- and Veterans Health Administration-reimbursed diagnostic testing. The practice and its owner admitted to paying Eyecuity, PLLC, an independent medical diagnostics company, kickbacks based on the volume of patients referred for transcranial doppler (TCD) testing. This testing was medically unnecessary because the order forms Eyecuity submitted for reimbursement indicated the patients had a very rare ophthalmic disease when St. Michael's did not have reason to believe that the patients had that diagnosis (Settlement Agreement, Sept. 11, 2026).

Facts. St. Michael's and its owner admitted, acknowledged, and accepted responsibility for the following facts. A TCD test is a noninvasive diagnostic test used to estimate the blood flow through certain blood vessels in the brain by bouncing high-frequency sound waves off blood cells. From September 2015 through December 2020, St. Michael's had contracts with Eyecuity through which Eyecuity rented space from St. Michael's and provided an onsite technician. To document the purported medical necessity of the TCD tests at issue, the order forms submitted by Eyecuity to Medicare indicated that the patients had Vertebro-Basilar Syndrome or Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency (VBI), a very rare condition "outside the typical scope of ophthalmic diagnosis" that causes inadequate blood flow in the brain. However, St. Michael's physicians did not have reason to believe that the patients had VBI. According to the Settlement Agreement, Eyecuity did not pay St. Michael's as set forth in their contracts based on the cost of office space, staff, and utilities, but rather on the volume of patients referred for testing.

The U.S. government claimed that as a result of the conduct covered in the agreement, St. Michael's and its owner caused the submission of false claims to Medicare by Eyecuity in violation of the FCA. The U.S. further contended that the claims were false because St. Michael's and its owner received remuneration from Eyecuity in return for the referral of Medicare patients for medically unnecessary TCDs, in violation of the AKS.

Settlement. To settle the claims against them, St. Michael's and its owner agreed to pay $350,000, plus interest, to the U.S. Of this amount, $175,000 was restitution. In return, the government agreed to release St. Michael's and its owner from any civil or administrative monetary claim relating to the covered conduct under the FCA, the Civil Monetary Penalties Law, the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, and the common law theories of payment by mistake, unjust enrichment, and fraud. Criminal liability was specifically reserved and not released.

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