A federal monitor’s report found that the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey made since 2002, $5.7 million in illegal payments to physicians in exchange for their heart patient referrals. As the result of these patient referrals, physicians were given “no-show” teaching jobs in excess of $150,000 per year. The monitoring system was put in place as the result of oversight put in place by the University to avoid prosecution on multi-million dollar fraud charges. This fraudulent scheme could cost the University as much as $84.5 million for these illegal referrals.

The fraudulent activity continues in spite of a $2.2 million settlement paid to a whistleblower in December 2005, who claimed he was fired for objecting to this scheme. The University signed a settlement agreement with the after it was charged with Medicaid fraud involving the double-billing of nearly $5 million worth of procedures.

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