University of Illinois at Chicago Pays $2.3 Million to Settle Fraud Charges

The University of Illinois at Chicago has paid more than $2.3 million to settle charges that in the late 1990s it diagnosed potential transplant patients as sicker than they were to move them ahead of other patients waiting for an available liver elsewhere.

Under the settlement, $500,000 was earmarked for Dr. Raymond Pollak, the transplant surgeon who became a "whistle-blower" in the case. In July, the University of Chicago Hospitals and Northwestern Memorial Hospital also paid fines to settle similar allegations.

The federal and state governments accused the hospitals of improperly diagnosing patients to make them eligible for transplants before they otherwise would be, boosting the number of transplants performed at the institutions and fraudulently obtaining government reimbursement.

"This settlement for twice the amount of actual damages sends a clear message to health care providers that they will be held accountable for defrauding government payment programs," Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in a statement.

"By falsely diagnosing patients and placing them in intensive care to make them appear more sick than they were, patients eligible for liver transplants were placed ahead of others who were waiting for organs in the transplant region," Fitzgerald said.

Like the University of Chicago and Northwestern, the university said it had admitted no liability as part of the settlement.

Pollak, 52, who once was head of the University of Illinois at Chicago's transplant program, was demoted and his pay slashed after he complained that patients were being misclassified. He now teaches and is on staff at the university's Peoria medical center.

"We're pleased, but this is a partial settlement," Pollak attorney Robin Potter said. "It covers only the fraud claims. None of the retaliation or the employment claims are resolved. We are urging the university and the taxpayers to right the whole wrong."

Other Sources: U.S. Attorney, Chicago Tribune