A hearing has been slated for Nov. 19 in federal court in Pittsburgh to address the issue of fairness in a proposed settlement with two Bradford doctors to a Whistleblower lawsuit.

Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Cohill Jr. agreed to allow a fairness hearing in the matter of doctors Dilbagh Singh, V. Rao Nadella, Martin Jacobs and Paul Kirsch, and the U.S. Department of Justice versus doctors Peter Vaccaro and Kamran Saleh.

The four doctors — the plaintiffs in the case — are contesting the amount of the proposed settlement of $500,000 between the Department of Justice and Vaccaro and Saleh, saying it isn’t enough in comparison to the financial means of the two physicians. The four were requesting updated financial details of Vaccaro and Saleh for use in determining what a fair settlement would be. 

However, Cohill denied that request, saying he was confident the fairness argument can be made without the use of financial materials that weren’t even used in the settlement negotiations, according to an order setting a hearing.

“Moreover, the ability to pay of the defendants is only one aspect to consider as to the fairness of the settlement agreement,” Cohill said.

The potential settlement has been bitterly contested in federal court, with attorneys for the four doctors detailing allegedly confidential financial information of Vaccaro and Saleh, including a collection of luxury cars and seemingly extravagant spending. Vaccaro and Saleh said the doctors’ conduct has served to embarrass and harass them, and they asked for the financial information to be redacted from the public records of the case. 

The plaintiffs did file a redacted version.

The suit was filed in 2004 by the four doctors, on behalf of the federal government, against Bradford Regional Medical Center, Vaccaro and Saleh, and alleged BRMC was providing kickbacks to the doctors in exchange for referrals to the hospital.

BRMC has settled its part in the case.