$54M medical fraud settlement sets record

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Tenet Healthcare Corp. will pay $54 million to settle allegations that at least two of its doctors subjected patients to unnecessary heart operations and defrauded government insurance programs. The settlement is a record for federal medical fraud settlement involving unnecessary tests, lab reports and surgeries, the Justice Department said.
The settlement covers heart procedures performed between 1997 and 2002 at Redding Medical Center in northern California.