VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – A Virginia Beach doctor, along with his practice, has recently agreed to pay $625,000 as part of of a civil fraud case.

According to a release, Dr. Scott Saffold and Chesapeake Bay, ENT, P.C. allegedly routinely falsely billed government health care programs for “balloon sinus dilations” that were not considered medically necessary.

Saffold and Chesapeake Bay were said to have performed the procedure on six sinuses for multiple patients, staging the surgeries for each side of the sinuses at separate times in order to increase the amount of reimbursement from government payors. The government also alleged that Saffold and his practice would regularly bill government payors for endoscopes to examine the sphenoid sinus under Current Procedural Terminology Code 31235, while not actually performing the code.

The release states the settlement is in connection with a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which allows an individual to file a complaint with the U.S. District Court and provide evidence to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

For more information on the settlement, click here.