ROANOKE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- A Roanoke-based medical practice will pay $2.1 million after its owners pleaded guilty to criminal health care fraud.

According to a release, Allergy and Asthma Associates, Inc. billed Medicare and Virginia Medicaid more than $600,000 for expensive asthma treatments it did not purchase or it improperly administered to patients.

Last June, the company’s owners pleaded guilty to one count of criminal health care fraud in connection with this case and they have now entered into a civil resolution.

“When a medical practice fraudulently bills our Medicare and Medicaid programs, it diverts funds from the most vulnerable in our communities and must be held accountable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel Bubar.  “Today’s civil resolution coupled with AAA’s criminal conviction in June marks the end of a lengthy investigation and demonstrates that we will work closely with our federal and state partners to hold providers responsible for healthcare fraud.” 

“Individuals and health care providers who defraud our health care system are not only stealing from Medicare and Medicaid, but they are also stealing from taxpayers and they must be held accountable,” said Attorney General Mark Herring.

The release says court documents show that between January 2010 and September 2017, AAA submitted improper billings to Medicare and Medicaid for Xolair, an asthma treatment that is sold in single-use vials.

Patients who get this drug have to have a health care provider administer a partial vial due to its nature.

The release adds this results in leftover amounts that are not administered to a patient.

Medicare and Medicaid allowed providers to bill Medicare Part B and Medicaid one time for an entire single vial of Xolair, including the amount administered and the amount discarded, up to the amount listed on the vial’s label.

However, court documents said AAA would administer leftover amounts to another patient and then bill Medicare and Medicaid for administering it as if it were an entire single-use vial.

The release says the company billed Medicare for $672,540 of the drug that it did not buy, and it got 129 vials of the drug from Medicaid that were not documented as being used for a Medicaid patient. Those vials equal a loss of more than $88,800 for Medicaid.

Under the terms of the resolution, AAA will pay nearly $2.15 million to settle claims it violated the false claims Act.

Of that money, close to $1.99 million will go to the U.S. government and more than $154,648 will be paid to Virginia.