Between 2000 and 2008, fourteen hospitals located in New York, Mississippi, North Carolina, Washington, Indiana, Missouri and Florida were overcharging Medicare when performing kyphoplasty, a procedure that is used to treat certain spinal fractures. The hospitals agreed to pay the government over $12 million to settle the allegations. To date,
GE Healthcare, a major, international provider of pharmaceuticals and technology, agreed to pay $30 million to the U.S. to settle allegations that it improperly billed Medicare for its radiopharmaceutical drug Myoview. The settlement arose from a qui tam suit filed under the False Claims Act by James Wagel,
Merck & Co, Inc., the second largest drug manufacturer in the nation, agreed to pay $24 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to settle allegations that it knowingly reported inflated drug prices to the Massachusetts Medicaid program. The $24 million settlement is the largest single payment made to the Commonwealth for any one Medicaid fraud case in the state’s history,
Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries, a charitable organization operating as Diakon Hospice St. John (Diakon), agreed to pay the U.S. $10.56 million to settle allegations that it submitted claims for Medicare reimbursement for ineligible hospice patients from October 1, 2004 to October 1, 2010. Diakon, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America,
KV Pharmaceutical Company, the St. Louis parent corporation of the now defunct Ethex Corporation, has agreed to pay $17 million to the federal and state governments to resolve allegations that Ethex fraudulently received reimbursement for two of its drugs from federal healthcare programs. According to allegations made by relator Constance Conrad in U.S.
Merck has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor criminal charge and pay $950 million to the federal and state governments to resolve allegations that it illegally marketed its painkiller drug Vioxx for off-label use and made false statements about the drug’s cardiovascular risks. Merck not only withheld data showing that Vioxx increased patient’s risks of heart attack and stroke,
Marilyn Tavenner, the new administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has drawn the support of major medical organizations including the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), America’s Health Insurance Providers (AHIP), and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Tavenner was nominated by President Obama to be administrator of CMS after the resignation of Dr.
New York City has agreed to pay the federal government $70 million to settle claims that it allegedly overbilled Medicaid by improperly approving home care for elderly clients. As part of the settlement, NYC admitted that it reauthorized treatment of a number of patients without having first obtained required assessments from doctors,
GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest drug manufacturers, settled a number of claims resulting from government investigations including one tied to the sale of diabetes drug, Avandia, which has been associated with increased heart risks, and one related to off-label marketing of other drug products. GlaxoSmithKline contends that as a result of claims such as these,
DFine, a California provider of vertebral augmentation devices, agreed to resolve Justice Department allegations of false claims for $2.9 million. The government charged DFine with using customer surveys as vehicles to pay participating physicians kickbacks to induce them to use DFine devices. The government alleged that DFine paid $500 to a physician who provided product information,
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.