The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a $82.6 million judgment against Fresenius (NYSE:FMS) Medical Care Holdings, finding that the company did not violate Medicare’s rules concerning dialysis claims.
Renal Care Group, which was acquired by German-owned Fresenius in 2005, was accused of improperly billing the Medicare program for home dialysis supplies and equipment between 1999 and 2005 and was ordered to pay $82.6 million in damages.
In 2010 Fresenius appealed that decision and said Renal Care Group had done nothing wrong.
Last Friday, a 3-judge panel reversed a lower court’s ruling againt the medical device maker, and Judge Guy Cook wrote that Fresenius did not act with "reckless disregard of legal mandates."
Fellow panel Judge Gerald Rosen said in a regulatory filling that the government gave "no signposts" for determining the Medicare eligibility of Renal Care Group’s claims.
Fresenius did not reply to requests for comment.
The FDA investigated Fresenius in June 2012 after a dialysis website leaked a copy of an internal company memo. The memo said more than 900 patients had experienced heart attacks at the company’s internal dialysis centers. It also detailed adverse events possibly associated with improper use of Fresenius’ Granuflo dialysis concentrate, including a possible 5-fold increase in heart-attack risk associated with the compound.
FMS shares were up 0.5% to $74.52 by the close of the market today.
