According to a report from Colorado Public Radio, DaVita Kidney Care has agreed to settle a nearly $35 million dollar lawsuit. Former COO of DaVita, David Kogod, stepped forward as a whistleblower claiming the company illegally paid nephrologists to refer patients to their clinics. 

In an email from DaVita they stated, “While we deny any liability, we agreed to this resolution to close this chapter and move forward.” This settlement, however, is not unusual for the company. The CPR article explains that “Since 2012, DaVita has paid roughly $1 billion in civil charges to settle whistleblower complaints.”

The company settled a similar lawsuit over kickbacks in 2014 for $350 million, and a $450 million dollar lawsuit in 2015 for defrauding medicare by charging the government for medication that had been thrown away.

NASDAQ.COM reported in November that, “Shares of the kidney specialist (DaVita) have exceeded the broader market over the past year. While DVA stock has surged 69.7% over this time frame, the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied by 30.4%.” 

An online search revealed that DaVita is owned by a subsidiary of the UnitedHealth Group, and its largest shareholders are Berkshire Hathaway, Vanguard, and BlackRock.

The news of DaVita’s settlement comes on the heels of Indiana’s own $700 million dollar medical lawsuit. Whistleblowers in the state are accusing  insurance companies and hospitals of filing fraudulent claims with medicaid.

In the IndyStar’s coverage of the lawsuit their article stated, “Medicaid officials began bowing to political pressure exerted by the health insurers and the hospitals’ lobby, and improperly directed the Program Integrity team to significantly curtail its efforts to… recoup improper Medicaid payments.” 

Until recently there were two options for dialysis in Terre Haute, DaVita and Fresenius. But according to sources, a disagreement between Fresenius and a group of local nephrologists resulted in the closure of the Fresenius clinics, leaving DaVita as the primary provider of dialysis services for the community. 

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