22 April 2025
Health Care Law Today
Health Care Marketing: The Seventh Circuit Addresses 鈥淩eferrals鈥 Under The Anti-Kickback Statute
The case, United States v. Sorenson, addressed whether a Medicare-registered distributor violated the AKS in making payments to advertising, marketing, and manufacturing companies that worked to sell orthopedic braces to Medicare patients. The court held that such payments were not 鈥渞eferrals鈥 within the meaning of the AKS because the payments were made to entities that were neither physicians in a position to refer their patients nor other decisionmakers in positions to 鈥渓everage fluid, informal power and influence鈥 over health care decisions.
