Empire Pain Center Holdings: The Brace Was on the Order Before the Doctor Saw It

In the Empire Pain Center Holdings settlement over paid brace orders, the company and its owner admitted violating the False Claims Act and agreed to a $63.8 million civil consent judgment, according to the Justice Department’s announcement. For someone inside a call center, telemedicine company or equipment supplier, the case turns on familiar business records: who chose the brace, what the doctor actually reviewed, where the signed order went and who got paid.

A whistleblower started the civil case, and the government joined it. The entered court order dated January 13, 2025 prints $68.8 million against Empire and its owner, although the government’s motion used the amount announced above.

How Empire Turned Beneficiary Calls Into Paid Brace Orders

Empire was the New Jersey marketing company at the center of a chain linking Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries, telemedicine companies, doctors and durable medical equipment suppliers. In its account of the operators’ criminal cases following their guilty pleas, the Justice Department described conduct running from approximately June 2017 through May 2019.

In that criminal-case account, Empire employees called beneficiaries and pressured them to accept back, shoulder and knee braces regardless of medical necessity. Commissions, bonuses and incentives rewarded employees for getting more people to accept equipment. Empire then paid telemedicine companies, which paid doctors for prescriptions. Doctors signed regardless of medical need, often without speaking to the patient.

The same account describes signed orders going to suppliers around the country. Those suppliers billed Medicare and TRICARE and sent part of the proceeds back to Empire. The Justice Department’s criminal-case account puts Empire’s receipts from suppliers at more than $63 million and the resulting false claims at more than $127 million. The brace claim paid for the sales effort that produced it.

The Recording Was Edited Before the Doctor Got It

The criminal information charging Empire’s owner describes what happened between the first call and the signature. It alleged that Empire bought beneficiary leads from sources including overseas call centers. The lists carried names, telephone numbers, dates of birth and Medicare identification numbers.

According to that charging document, Empire recorded its calls, edited the recordings and sent them with beneficiary information to RediDoc and other telemedicine companies. RediDoc paid doctors to approve prewritten orders received from Empire. The doctors typically received approximately $20 to $30 per purported consultation, and often approved the orders without contacting the beneficiary or making a genuine assessment of medical need.

That sequence puts the product selection before the medical judgment. The brace was already on the order when the doctor received it.

The information further alleged that Empire’s operators knew RediDoc’s doctors often failed to contact patients or assess their needs. They nevertheless directed the signed orders to selected suppliers with kickback arrangements. The alleged purchase was a signed order that could be sent on for fulfillment and billing.

The Sales Incentives Favored Higher Reimbursements

The same criminal information alleged that Empire pushed back, shoulder and knee braces over wrist and ankle braces because the former brought higher reimbursements. Employees received cash, prizes and commissions tied to the number of braces they sold.

The document also described confusing questions, repeated calls and complaints reaching the operators. Children of elderly beneficiaries complained that their parents received too many calls and did not need the braces sent to them. The sales incentives rewarded more equipment while the families were asking why it was being sent at all.

Why the Order Was the Product

Empire sold access to completed orders that suppliers could turn into equipment claims. The whistleblower’s broader complaint described a payment deadline at the point the patient lead was ready:

The complaint priced a completed patient lead. The criminal information alleged that Empire paid RediDoc at least approximately $6.2 million for orders arranged through its paid doctors. Each payment had its own recipient and trigger: the supplier bought the lead, the telemedicine company arranged the approval, and the doctor was paid per purported consultation.

In this telehealth fraud case, the valuable output was the signed prescription that reached the equipment supplier. The marketer’s lead, the doctor’s review and the supplier’s claim were connected transactions, with different people controlling each.

Jackson & Coker LocumTenens‘ settlement agreement shows the same separation: a staffing company earned approval fees without billing Medicare itself.

A separate RediDoc physician’s case shows what an order could conceal. The Justice Department’s account of that settlement described a physician reviewing recorded telemarketing calls and prefilled prescriptions for payment per signed order. The government alleged that he ordered braces for both knees of a woman whose right leg had been amputated above the knee, and placed orders for another beneficiary after that person had died. A signature made the order look medical. The patient’s actual circumstances told a different story.

A 2024 Rutgers University Law Review paper argues that courts should ask whether a kickback arrangement would tend to produce the kinds of claims at issue. In Empire’s case, the connection is concrete: a paid approval went to a chosen supplier, whose reimbursement funded the return payment.

What Evidence Is Needed to Prove Fraud?

For a paid brace-order case, the useful evidence connects the beneficiary call, the signed medical order, the supplier’s claim and the payments between the businesses. Empire’s criminal information makes those connections concrete: edited recordings, prewritten orders, compensation for approvals, selected suppliers and proceeds sent back to the marketer.

A call-center employee may know what the beneficiary was asked, what the full recording contained and what was forwarded for medical review. A telemedicine worker may know who prepared the order, what information the doctor received and whether anyone contacted the patient. A supplier employee may see the order source, the claim and the payment for the referral. Those different views can explain the same transaction. Our whistleblower experts work with you to bring those records and the people’s roles together into a case.

How Much of a Settlement Does a Whistleblower Get?

A whistleblower case under the False Claims Act can pay 15% to 30% of what the government recovers. In Empire’s case, the Justice Department said the whistleblower would receive a share of the funds recovered by the United States.

You Know What Reached the Doctor After the Call

If you know who supplied the patient leads, approved the braces or paid for the orders, speak with our whistleblower experts about how the orders were bought. We build the case with you, bring in telemedicine and durable medical equipment whistleblower lawyers who understand these payment chains, and stay beside you through the pursuit of the government’s recovery.