Fresenius Medical Care of North America

Fresenius Medical Care is the world's largest, integrated provider of products and services for individuals with chronic kidney failure, a condition that affects more than 1,300,000 individuals worldwide. Through its network of 1,645 dialysis clinics, Fresenius Medical Care provides dialysis treatment to 128,200 patients around the globe. The federal physician self-referral law (“Stark Statute”) and many state self-referral laws, properly prevent prohibited referrals by health care providers, those in a position to make referrals to entities in which they may have a financial interest. The policy behind these laws is to prevent conflicts of interests that may affect independent judgment in making treatment decisions for patients, which should be based solely on medical necessity. Under the Federal Stark Statute, and newly amended Massachusetts legislation, exemptions permit referrals by nephrologists to dialysis centers where they serve as medical directors for essentially all renal dialysis services and supplies recognizing that referrals for such items and services are not subject to these types of prohibited abuses.