HELENA — The U.S. Department of Justice has announced a $10.8 million settlement with St. Peter's Health to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations by former employee Dr. Thomas Weiner. The Department of Justice has also filed a federal civil lawsuit against Dr. Weiner.
According to the settlement agreement, St. Peter's Hospital submitted false claims for payment to federal health care programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE, related to services performed and referred by Dr. Weiner.
The government alleges that between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2020, St. Peter's Hospital relied on Dr. Weiner's documents and certifications to submit claims that it determined to be false. These claims included consultations that were coded as a higher level of service than the services actually performed. The government further alleges that St. Peter's Hospital paid Dr. Weiner a salary based on these false claims, again relying on Dr. Weiner's reports, such that his salary was inconsistent with fair market value.
MTN News
Dr. Weiner served as director of the St. Peter's Health Cancer Treatment Center. In late 2020, he was fired by St. Peter's after several investigations into allegations that St. Peter's had harmed patients. In response, Dr. Weiner filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the organization, alleging that he was fired for opposing the CEO of St. Peter's. In August 2023, a Montana District Court judge ruled in favor of St. Peter's Health regarding Dr. Weiner's firing.
The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against Dr. Weiner on Monday, accusing him of false medical billing and improperly prescribing controlled substances.
Federal prosecutors allege that Dr. Weiner used his position as chief oncologist at St. Peter's Cancer Treatment Center to prescribe medically unnecessary procedures, knowingly falsify records to double-bill patients for consultations, and otherwise increase his personal income.
Additionally, Dr. Weiner is accused of issuing numerous prescriptions for Schedule II controlled substances, including hydrocodone, morphine and fentanyl, to multiple non-cancer patients, for no legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual scope of his professional practice.
(Read the full federal complaint against Dr. Thomas Weiner)
Dr. Weiner's lawyer, Diane McClung, said in a statement to MTN, “While we do not typically comment on pending litigation, Dr. Weiner denies any wrongdoing and maintains that this lawsuit is the result of ongoing employment litigation with St. Peter's Hospital. We are confident that Dr. Weiner will be exonerated when the evidence is presented in court.”
The settlement with the Department of Justice credits St. Peter's for voluntarily disclosing the suspected misconduct.
“We view this as an isolated situation,” said Wade Johnson, FACHE, CEO of Saint Peter's Health. “Acting with integrity is important to us, so the decision to self-report in 2020 was made without hesitation.”
The Justice Department also noted that St. Peters disclosed the results of its internal investigations, released documents that went beyond existing business practices and legal requirements, made its officers and employees available for interviews, and strengthened its corporate compliance program.
The total amount to be paid by St. Peter's under the settlement will be $10,844,201.
Johnson acknowledged that this is a significant financial settlement for St. Peter's and that it will be paid from reserves, without using donations. The organization is focused on moving forward and will continue to invest in its people and community.
“St. Peter's is ultimately responsible for maintaining compliance with federal law, and our team has been working hard to ensure we have an even stronger compliance program in place today,” Johnson said.
“One of the purposes of the False Claims Act is to protect American taxpayers from paying false claims submitted by health care providers to federal health care programs. We take these allegations seriously and are pleased to have obtained this settlement agreement that will return approximately $11 million to the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich. “Our health care providers are required to submit accurate claims when billing taxpayer-supported federal health care programs for their services. This settlement would not have been possible without St. Peter's Health's cooperation. St. Peter's Health voluntarily disclosed its wrongdoings and cooperated with federal investigators to identify the issue and amount of false claims.”
Editor's note: This is a developing story and will be updated.
