Category: Federal False Claims Act
On September 8, 2010, the First Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a false claims act case by invoking the public disclosure bar. The court held that a complaint for wrongful discharge under state law triggers the public disclosure bar where the wrongful termination is based on the same set of operative facts as the qui tam action.
The Justice Department is considering joining a qui tam lawsuit now under seal concerning the use of performance enhancing drugs in cycling races. The qui tam relator is Floyd Landis, a former teammate of Lance Armstrong. The federal connection to the lawsuit involves the US Postal Service’s sponsorship of Armstrong’s team for several years,
In 2006, Charles Donigan sued his former employer, St. Jude Medical, under the Federal False Claims Act for allegedly paying kickbacks to physicians and other health care providers to induce them to use St. Jude medical devices, including pacemakers. Four years later, after the government indicated its intent to intervene in the lawsuit,
Hewlett – Packard settled claims that it knowingly paid kickbacks to systems integrator companies in return for recommendations that federal agencies purchase H-P products. The government also claimed that H-P defectively priced a 2002 contract with the General services Administration by failing to disclose complete information during the negotiating process.
Allergan settled claims of off-label marketing of its Botox pharmaceutical and other claims for a total of $600 million. The government accused Allergan of recommending Botox for unapproved uses including headache, pain, spasticity and juvenile cerebral palsy. As part of the settlement, Allergan also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charge of misbranding,
A physician, clinic owner and a number of clinic nurses pleaded guilty to participating in a large Medicare fraud conspiracy. Dr. Fred Dweck, Yudel Cayro and others referred numerous Medicare recipients for unnecessary home health care services and charged those services to Medicare. In total, Medicare paid more than $32 million of the $53 million fraudulent claims billed.
St. John’s Medical Center of Santa Monica, California has agreed to repay the federal government $5.25 million to settle claims that it overbilled Medicare. The government alleged that St. John’s “turbocharged” its claims to Medicare by raising charges more quickly than its actual costs rose. According to the government, the practice allowed St.
Furuno USA, settled a qui tam lawsuit against it for supplying electronic equipment to the US Coast Guard and Navy that was manufactured in China in violation of the Federal Trade Agreements Act. The government claimed that Furuno continued to provide Chinese navigation equipment even after it was advised that the equipment could not be manufactured in China.
On August 20, 2010, it was announced that a Medicare and Medicaid managed-care company, WellCare Health Plans, Inc., reached a preliminary settlement to pay $137.5 million to settle a False Claims Act case which has been pending for the past four years. The allegations arise from claims that WellCare was responsible for schemes to avoid repaying overpayments which it received from Florida and New York’s Medicaid programs,
On August 20, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that two oil companies, Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production, Inc. and Marathon Oil Company, will pay the United States $2,219,974.98 and $4,697,476.57, respectively, in an effort to resolve claims that the companies each violated the False Claims Act.
