Precision Lens Must Pay $487 Million in Medicare Kickback Suit

Cameron-Ehlen Group Inc., which does business as Precision Lens, and its owner Paul Ehlen are liable for $487 million in trebled damages and penalties in a False Claims Act suit for paying kickbacks to surgeons performing cataract surgeries.

A Minnesota jury on Feb. 28 found that the defendants violated the FCA by causing the submission of 64,575 false claims—that were tainted by kickbacks—to Medicare for reimbursement. It found that Precision Lens and its owner were responsible for over $43 million in damages.

The defendants don’t challenge the damages calculation under the FCA, Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright of the U.S. District ...