The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that it has reached a settlement with Georgia Cancer Specialists I, PC, which agreed to pay $4.1 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for evaluation and management services that were not permitted by Medicare rules.
According to federal officials, Pinnacle Medical Solutions, a Mississippi medical equipment company, has agreed to pay nearly $1.8 million to settle claims in a 2009 whistleblower lawsuit that the company bilked government insurance groups out of money for delivery of diabetic supplies to patients. The suit was filed by two former employees who can receive between 15% and 25% of the money recovered.
Applied Research Associates, a New Mexico-based defense contractor with offices in Vermont, will pay $1.1 million to settle billing fraud charges, according to federal prosecutors. The prosecutors learned of the issue after a company engineer filed a lawsuit last year under the False Claims Act. The employee reportedly will collect $220,000.
In the largest settlement in Medi-Cal history, SCAN, a provider of health care and support services in Southern California for the elderly and disabled, will pay $323.67 million to settle allegations that they failed to provide contractually required financials to the Department of Healthcare Services (“DHCS”).
HCA, one of the largest for-profit hospital chains nationwide, has agreed to pay the United States and the state of Tennessee $16.5 million to settle allegations arising from its Parkridge Medical Center facility in Chattanooga. A financial arrangement between Parkridge Medical Center and physician group Diagnostic Associates of Chattanooga triggered the allegations that Parkridge violated the False Claims Act and the Stark Statute.
A Los Angeles area physician assistant, David James Garrison, has been sentenced to 72 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for stealing the identity of physicians to prescribe medically unnecessary prescriptions for durable medical equipment (“DME”) and diagnostic tests. He has also been ordered to pay $24,935 in restitution.
The New York Attorney General announced an $18 million settlement with Compass Group USA, Inc., a food management services provider, for overcharging 39 schools and school districts across the state. In addition to the monetary settlement, Compass entered into a first ever Nutritional Code of Conduct to ensure better quality food in schools.
Relator Bradley Birkenfeld will receive a $104 million award, for his part in revealing UBS Bank’s illegal offshore banking scheme. It is believed to be the largest award to an individual Relator and the first major award under the IRS Whistleblower Act.
Cornell University has lost its appeal of a 2010 verdict that was the result of a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a former research fellow. The lawsuit alleges that Weil Cornell Medical College and former faculty member Dr. Wilfred van Gorp made false claims to the National Institute of Health (“NIH”) regarding a government funded research grant.
Orthofix’s proposed $7.8 million settlement in a Medicare kickback investigation has been rejected by U.S. District Judge William G. Young. Orthofix had proposed pleading guilty to one count of obstructing a government audit and paying a $7.8 million fine. In rejecting the settlement, Judge Young stated that he had unease in treating a corporate criminal case as a civil case and that the settlement unduly restricted his sentencing power.
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.