Category: Federal False Claims Act
The New York Times reports that hospice care is under the microscope for care and treatment that may not be necessary. The amount of money spent on hospice care grew from $2.9 billion in 2000 to more than $12 billion in 2009. The increase is attributable to Medicare regulations some years ago that demonstrated that allowed for hospice care as a cost-effective way of caring for individual near the end of life.
On June 13, 2011, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Justice would intervene in a False Claims Act suit against Eli Hage Korban, M.D., and two Tennessee hospitals, Jackson-Medicine Country General Hospital and Regional Hospital of Jackson. The suit is before Judge Bernice Bouie Donald, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee,
In early June 2011, a U.S. District Court Judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $327 million due to its deceptive marketing of the antipsychotic medication, Risperdal. The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,
On June 17, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the settlement of claims against Fluor Hanford, Inc. alleging that the company knowingly submitted false claims and paid and received kickbacks relating to a contract to operate and manage radioactive waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Nuclear Site in Hanford,
The Wall Street Journal reports that the development of New York City’s automated payroll system – known as CityTime – was the subject of significant fraudulent kickbacks. The US Attorney recently announced indictments of two New Jersey executives accused of paying off contractors involving over $600 million in city funds,
The Tucson Sentinel reports that despite Congressional expansion of the IRS whistleblower program in 2006, the program does not live up to its expectations. In the four years since Congress passed the new program, only one whistleblower has purportedly collected an award—an accountant who collected $4.5 million for reporting a $20 million tax underpayment.
Last week, United States District Judge Steve Merryday upheld Relator John King’s amended qui tam Complaint against grenade manufacturer DSE, Inc. and its subcontractors Kaman Precision Products, GTI Systems, and JKS Industries. Mr. King, a former employee at DSE, alleges that the company terminated him from the position of quality-assurance manager when he refused to certify the quality of defective grenades that either exploded prematurely or failed to explode at all.
American Medical Response (“AMR”), one of the country’s largest private ambulance services, will pay the United States government $2.7 million to resolve allegations that it defrauded Medicare and other federal health insurance programs.
The allegations against AMR were originally brought by several former employees, who alleged that AMR coded “basic life support” calls as “advanced life support,” which are reimbursed at a higher rate by Medicare.
Three related companies, Areté Sleep LLC, Areté Sleep Therapy LLC and Areté Holdings LLC, have agreed to pay the United States Department of Justice $650,000 to settle claims that the Areté companies defrauded Medicare in violation of the False Claims Act. The settlement resolves claims that Areté submitted false claims to Medicare for diagnostic sleep tests performed by technicians lacking the licenses or certifications required by Medicare’s rules and regulations.
On May 26, 2011, Judge William J. Haynes, Jr. awarded the United States $82,642,592.00 in damages after granting summary judgment in favor of the government on its False Claims Act (“FCA”) claim against Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc. The award was based on treble damages under the FCA of $38,873,592 and $43,769,000 in civil penalties.
