The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has announced that Lenox Hill Hospital will pay $11.75 million dollars to settle a civil health care fraud lawsuit.
The federal government accused Lenox Hospital of fraudulently inflating its charges for services provided to Medicare patients in order to obtain higher supplemental reimbursements that Medicare pays to health care providers in cases where the cost of care is unusually high.
On May 3, 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced that a number of dialysis centers in the Knoxville, Tennessee area had agreed to pay $4.36 million to resolve allegations that they had violated the federal False Claims Act, the Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act and other federal and state laws and regulations.
On May 7, 2012, the Justice Department announced that Abbott Laboratories, Inc. has pled guilty to allegations arising out of its promotion of the prescription drug, Depakote.
Abbott Labs was charged with promoting the drug for uses which had not been approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration.
In April 2012, Diane Boerman a senior accounts clerk at the Sacramento Public Library reached a $343,000 confidential settlement in her retaliation lawsuit against the library. Boerman blew the whistle on a kickback scheme that ultimately sent three people to prison. The settlement was approved in secret by the library’s board of directors in a March 22,
On April 24, 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule requiring stronger protections against fraudsters. The final rule allows only qualified, identifiable providers and suppliers to order or certify medical services, equipment, and supplies for Medicare beneficiaries.
CMS will be diligently verifying provider credentials.
On April 20, 2012, the Department of Justice announced that Walgreens, a national retail pharmacy chain has paid the United States and affiliated states a $7.9 million settlement to resolve allegations that the pharmacy violated the False Claims Act. Walgreens, allegedly offered illegal incentives to beneficiaries of government health care programs which include Medicare,
On Thursday, April 26, 2012, Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division; New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman; and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that the McKesson Corporation has agreed to pay the United States a $190 million settlement to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act.
On April 24, 2012, the Justice Department announced that a lawsuit was filed by the Unites States and whistleblower, John Dickson under the qui tam, provisions of the False Claims Act. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
The Defendants include Japanese company,
In a Qui Tam False Claims Act suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, ATK Launch Systems Inc., has agreed to pay the United States $21 million and provide necessary in-kind services worth $15,967,160 in reparation costs for 76,000 malfunctioning para-flares that were sold to the government.
On April 23, 2012, the United States Department of Justice announced that Anthony Allega Cement Contractor, Inc., a Cleveland based construction firm, has agreed to pay $500,000 to the U.S. government to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act. The investigation was conducted by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio,
