General Electric Co's healthcare equipment unit paid more than $30 million to settle allegations that a company it bought in 2004 provided false information to overcharge Medicare for a drug used to diagnose heart disease, the Justice Department said.

The Justice Department on Thursday said the government alleged Amersham Health Inc violated the False Claims Act as it misled Medicare by showing artificially inflated rates of the drug Myoview.

The False Claims Act allows governments to join lawsuits filed by whistle-blowers who spot fraud involving taxpayers dollars. It also gives a share of the recovery to the whistle-blower.

The whistle-blower in the lawsuit, James Wagel, would receive $5.1 million from the recovery, the DOJ said.

GE Healthcare could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Megha Mandavia in Bangalore)

Healthcare