Pain Center to Pay $5 Million to Settle False Claims Lawsuit

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Macon announced Monday that a $5 million settlement has been reached in a civil lawsuit against Dr. Mark A. Ellis and the Ellis Pain Center in Athens.

The settlement against Ellis, the clinic and the clinic’s practice manager Patsy Allen was reached on March 17. The clinic is located in Oconee County in the area of the Oconee Connector.

The defendants agreed to pay the $5 million to resolve allegations that they filed false claims to the Medicare program for urine drug tests that were not performed, urine tests that were not medically necessary and diagnostics tests not needed for the treatment of pain patients, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney.

Read the source article at onlineathens.com