The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced today that it has resolved allegations that Practice Fusion, Inc. violated the terms of its deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”). On January 27, 2020, the United States Attorney announced a resolution of criminal charges against Practice Fusion in connection with Practice Fusion’s role in soliciting and receiving kickbacks in return for embedding electronic prompts in its electronic medical record (“EMR”) to influence the prescribing of opioid medications. As part of that resolution, the United States Attorney and Practice Fusion executed a DPA pursuant to which Practice Fusion was to maintain an Oversight Organization for the duration of the DPA.
According to court documents, the United States Attorney alleged that Practice Fusion failed to comply with the terms of its DPA. Specifically, the United States Attorney alleged that Practice Fusion failed to: (1) retain a new Oversight Organization following the resignation of its previous Oversight Organization; (2) provide its previous Oversight Organization with adequate access to information and witnesses to discharge its oversight responsibilities; and (3) pay for certain expenses incurred by the Oversight Organization. Practice Fusion denied that it had failed to comply with the terms of the DPA. On March 18, 2022, the parties resolved the dispute. As part of the resolution, the term of Practice Fusion’s DPA shall be extended by eleven weeks and Practice Fusion shall pay a fine of $200,000.
“Compliance with oversight obligations after resolution of cases with the Department of Justice is critically important, and companies under corporate integrity agreements, non-prosecution agreements, and deferred prosecution agreements must assiduously adhere to those responsibilities,” said U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest. “This office will not tolerate failure to comply with oversight obligations, which provide the Department and citizens assurance that corporate wrongdoers have cleaned up their acts.”
The DPA is pending in the District of Vermont and the case is captioned United States of America v. Practice Fusion, Inc., No. 2:20-cr-11 (D. Vt.)
The Government is represented by Owen C.J. Foster and Michael P. Drescher of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont. Practice Fusion is represented by Laura Hoey, Christine Moundas, and Patrick Welsh of the law firm Ropes & Gray, LLP.
The government’s claims are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability as part of this resolution.