Attorney General Tong Announces $1.7 Million False Claims Settlement with Family Dentistry of Bridgeport, Hartford and Stamford Over Prohibited Patient Recruiting Fees

Press Releases

08/28/2024

Attorney General Tong Announces $1.7 Million False Claims Settlement with Family Dentistry of Bridgeport, Hartford and Stamford Over Prohibited Patient Recruiting Fees

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong and United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery today announced a $1.7 million settlement agreement with Family Dentistry of Bridgeport, Family Dentistry of Hartford, Family Dentistry of Stamford (collectively known as the Family Dentistry Entities) and owners Stanislav Gintautas, DDS and Tatiana Agababaeva, DDS, resolving allegations that they violated state and federal False Claims Act statutes through prohibited fees paid to a “patient recruiting” company.

This is the second settlement arising from ongoing joint civil investigations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the federal Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into alleged kickback-tainted claims for services rendered to Connecticut Medicaid patients referred by third-party patient recruiting companies.

The Family Dentistry Entities are enrolled in the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program (“CMAP”), which includes the Connecticut Medicaid program.

From approximately February 1, 2016, through August 31, 2018, the Family Dentistry Entities are alleged to have paid a third-party patient recruiting company $115 for each Connecticut Medicaid patient the company referred to them, whenever a patient received dental services over and above routine preventative care (such as dental cleanings and exams). The State of Connecticut and the United States contend that the alleged conduct was prohibited by the federal anti-kickback statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b), as well as the Connecticut Dental Health Partnership (“CTDHP”) provider manual. The CTDHP provider manual is an addendum to both the CMAP provider agreement, as well as the CMAP provider manual. The State of Connecticut and the United States contend that they had certain civil claims against Family Dentistry Entities for their submission of kickback-tainted claims to the CMAP for dental services allegedly rendered to Connecticut Medicaid patients referred to them by the patient recruiting company. The settlement agreement with the Family Dentistry Entities, Dr. Gintautas and Dr. Agababaeva resolves those civil claims. The settlement agreement is neither an admission of liability by the Family Dentistry Entities, Dr. Gintautas, or Dr. Agababaeva, nor is it a concession by the State of Connecticut or the United States that their claims are not well founded.

“Paying kickbacks for patient recruitment is illegal. Dentists and dental practices participating in Connecticut’s public healthcare programs are responsible for knowing the law. This is the second settlement arising from ongoing joint investigations, and we will continue to work closely with our state and federal partners to aggressively protect the integrity of our public healthcare programs,” said Attorney General Tong.

Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Attorney General’s Government Fraud Section at 860-808-5040 or by email at ag.fraud@ct.gov; the Connecticut Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at 860-258-5986 or by email at conndcj@ct.gov; or the Connecticut Department of Social Services fraud reporting hotline at 1-800-842-2155, online at www.ct.gov/dss/reportingfraud, or by email to providerfraud.dss@ct.gov.

Assistant Attorney General Joshua L. Jackson, Legal Investigator Timothy Edwards, and Deputy Associate Attorney General Gregory O’Connell, Chief of the Government Fraud Section assisted the Attorney General in this matter.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

Facebook: CT Attorney General

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov