Florida-based medical equipment company Electrostim Medical Services Inc. (EMSI) and its founder, Mario Garcia Jr., agreed to pay $20 million to resolve claims under the federal False Claims Act, Pennsylvania prosecutors announced Friday. The settlement addresses allegations that EMSI improperly billed government healthcare programs for unnecessary and duplicate sales of medical devices designed to provide pain relief via electrical stimulation.
Allegations of Unnecessary Billing
EMSI supplies transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) systems, which use low-level electrical currents to alleviate pain in targeted body areas. Prosecutors allege that EMSI, between 2018 and 2019, improperly billed patients for unneeded replacement electrodes and batteries, even when they had received fully equipped starter kits. Additionally, EMSI allegedly charged for replacement electrodes for patients using specialized garments, like gloves or socks, which did not require separate electrodes.
