BALTIMORE – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced that his office has reached a settlement with CVR Management, LLC, to resolve allegations that the company’s multistate network of vascular medicine clinics billed government health programs for medically unnecessary vein treatment procedures.
CVR Management, LLC, a professional services corporation based in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the operations of the Center for Vein Restoration (CVR), a group of practices and medical clinics operating in numerous states. CVR will pay the states and the federal government $4 million dollars, of which $604,365.07 will go to state Medicaid programs. Maryland, which led the state coalition, will get $168,763.36, to be shared with the federal government. The whistleblowers who initiated the case will receive $752,000 from the settlement.
“Marylanders trust that their doctors recommend care because it is medically necessary—not because it generates revenue,” said Attorney General Brown. “This settlement sends a clear message: we will hold providers accountable when they put profits over patients and misuse public health dollars.
Specifically, the settlement resolves allegations that from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2016, CVR billed government health programs for unnecessary chronic venous insufficiency treatments. Chronic venous insufficiency is caused by the improper functioning of vein valves resulting in vein wall weakening that leads to varicose veins, cramping, swelling, discoloration, and sometimes ulcers or skin necrosis on the legs.
It can be treated by sclerotherapy, radiofrequency ablation or endovenous laser ablation. But government health programs will not pay for such treatments when used for purely cosmetic reasons. To warrant coverage, chronic venous insufficiency must be accompanied by certain other conditions and treatments must occur only after patients undergo specified alternative options that prove unsuccessful.
A lengthy investigation found that CVR knowingly billed government health programs for sclerotherapy, radiofrequency ablation, and endovenous laser ablation procedures that were not clinically indicated and were medically unnecessary.
This settlement arises from a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit originally filed in 2015 in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland under the federal False Claims Act and various state false claims statutes. The settlement also resolves a second qui tam action filed in 2018 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that was subsequently consolidated into the Maryland case.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Brown thanked Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit Director Zak Shirley as well as Assistant Attorney General Raja Mishra for their work on the case.
This case was resolved through a coordinated effort between state and federal partners, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland and the Attorneys General for the states of Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) Team, led by Maryland, participated in the investigation and conducted settlement negotiations with CVR on behalf of the states.
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $7,119,096 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,373,032 for FY 2026, is funded by the State of Maryland.