A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against MB2 Dental Solutions (MB2) and 21 pediatric dental practices affiliated with MB2, along with their owners and marketing chief.
The allegations arose from a lawsuit that claimed MB2 Dental Solutions knowingly submitted, or caused the submission of, claims for pediatric dental services that were not rendered, were tainted by kickbacks, or falsely identified the person who performed the service.
This settlement resolves allegations that between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2014, MB2 and affiliated dental practices submitted claims to the Texas Medicaid Fee for Service Program for single-surface fillings in children that were not provided. The settlement also resolves allegations that MB2 paid kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries and their families, marketers, and marketing entities, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and that MB2 and affiliated dental practices used erroneous Medicaid provider numbers misrepresenting the dentists performing the pediatric procedures.
As part of the settlement, five Texas-based MB2 dentists, Christopher Steven Villanueva, Trung Minh Tang, Mauricio Dardano, Gabriel Shahwan and Akhil Reddy have agreed to pay the government $250,000 each to resolve individual claims against them. MB2's marketing head, Frank Villanueva, agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve claims against him.
Furthermore, all five dentists entered into a five year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which requires that an independent organization will annually review claims reimbursed by federal health care programs to ensure they were correctly coded and documented and medically necessary.
The whistleblower, a former employee of MB2, Veronica Garcia will receive $1.52 million from the settlement.
