NIRP and founder to pay nearly $9M to resolve alleged kickback referral violations

US Department of Justice, Southern District of Texas, August 20, 2024

HOUSTON — National Interventional Radiology Partners PLLC (NIRP) along with its founder and its CEO have agreed to pay to the United States $8,884,091 to resolve Federal False Claims Act (FCA) and Anti-Kickback Statute violation allegations, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

The settlement claims NIRP and Dr. Andrew Gomes, 48, Sugar Land, illegally paid physicians for referrals to clinics established to surgically treat patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), a circulatory disease which causes plaque build-up in the arteries. It most commonly affects the lower legs of elderly individuals.

Beginning in 2015, Gomes established a number of clinics throughout Texas under the NIRP umbrella to surgically treat PAD. Gomes raised capital for these clinics from physicians who had medical practices that would provide a strong patient base for Medicare referrals including primary care physicians, doctors of podiatric medicine and family practitioners. 

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