There are numerous United States federal and state laws pertaining to healthcare fraud and abuse, including anti-kickback laws, false claims, and physician transparency laws. Our relationships with physicians and surgeons, hospitals and our independent distributors are subject to scrutiny under these laws. Violations of these laws are punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including significant fines, damages and monetary penalties and in some instances, imprisonment and exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, including the Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Administration health programs.
Healthcare fraud and abuse regulations are complex, and even minor irregularities can potentially give rise to claims that a statute or prohibition has been violated. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:
- the federal healthcare program Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving, or paying remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward the purchasing, leasing, ordering or arranging for or recommending the purchase, lease or order of any good or service for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid;- federal civil False Claims Act prohibits, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment of government funds that are false or fraudulent or knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to an obligation to pay money to the government or knowingly concealing or knowingly and improperly avoiding, decreasing or concealing an obligation to pay money to the federal government;- the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology and Clinical Health Act of 2009, which, among other things, imposes criminal and civil liability for executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program and also imposes obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information;- HIPAA also created federal criminal laws that prohibit knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation, or making or using any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services;- the Federal Trade Commission Act and similar laws regulating advertisement and consumer protections;- the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1997, which makes it illegal to offer or provide money or anything of value to officials of foreign governments, foreign political parties, or international organizations with the intent to obtain or retain business or seek a business advantage; and - state law equivalents of each of the above federal laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including commercial insurers, and state laws governing the privacy of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts. In addition, there has been a recent trend of increased federal and state regulation of payments made to physicians. Some states, such as California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Vermont mandate implementation of commercial compliance programs and/or impose restrictions on device manufacturer marketing practices and tracking and reporting of gifts, compensation and other remuneration to physicians.
Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from federal healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. To enforce compliance with the federal laws, the U.S. Department of Justice, or DOJ, has recently increased its scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers, which has led to a number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and settlements in the healthcare industry. Dealing with investigations can be time and resource consuming and can divert management's attention from the business. In addition, settlements with the DOJ or other law enforcement agencies have forced healthcare providers to agree to additional onerous compliance and reporting requirements as part of a consent decree or corporate integrity agreement. Any violations of these laws, or any action against us for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against it, could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial condition.
Many foreign countries have enacted similar laws addressing fraud and abuse in the healthcare sector. The shifting commercial compliance environment and the need to build and maintain robust and expandable systems to comply with different compliance requirements in multiple jurisdictions increases the possibility that we may run afoul of one or more of the requirements.