Even as the abuse of prescription drugs has escalated and the national crackdown on it has occurred, new data suggests that doctors are prescribing even larger numbers of prescriptions for the most potent controlled substances to Medicare patients.
North Atlantic Medical Services Inc. (NAMS), a medical device company that provides equipment and services for treatment of respiratory ailments, reached an agreement to pay $852,378 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. The Department of Justice announced that NAMS agreed to pay this settlement due to submitting claims to Medicare and Medicaid for services provided by unlicensed personnel.
On behalf of their client Michael Epp, the law firms Morgan Verkamp LLC (Cincinnati) and Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP (Philadelphia) note the settlement of claims initiated by Mr. Epp alleging fraud on the part of Supreme Foodservice, the “prime vendor” of food and related items to the Department of Defense and coalition troops in Afghanistan from 2005 until at least 2009.
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Judiciary Committee Chairman, reported that the Department of Justice recovered a record-breaking $24 billion under the False Claims Act in 2014 for civil and criminal penalties. The majority of the penalties were related to the financial crisis that started in 2014 and included financial institutions such as Citibank and JP Morgan.
A district court in the Eastern District of Tennessee recently upheld that utilization of statistical sampling to establish liability in false claims cases.
As Attorney General Eric Holder prepares to step down, his success with False Claims Act cases is being highlighted by the Department of Justice. Amongst his greatest legacy is the creating Heath Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (“HEAT”) in 2009. Since its inception in 2009, the HEAT team has conducted six nationwide enforcement actions resulting in charges against 600 individuals and a financial recovery nearing $2 billion.
A recently unsealed qui tam complaint alleges that Northrop Grumman Inc. repeatedly lied that it had performed certain quality control testing on a navigational device used in military fighter jets, drones, and submarines in order to save time.
After admitting in April 2014 to creating a front company, in order to obtain Cost Guard contracts designated for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), North Florida Shipyards as well as its president, Matt Self, have agreed to pay the United States $1 million to resolve False Claim Act allegations.
In another win for the HEAT (Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team) initiative, EBI, LLC, a medical device company in Parsippany, New Jersey, doing business as Biomet Spine and Bone Healing Technologies and Biomet, Inc., will pay $6 million to resolve allegations of violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
After a coordinated investigation by the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS), First RF Corporation has agreed to pay $10 million to settle False Claim Act violations. The allegations arose over a 2005 Army contract with First RF for the sale of electronic warfare antennas.
If you are aware of any person, corporation or entity that you think may be violating the Federal False Claims Act or a State False Claims Act, contact us today.