We often get the question: “What is the Anti-Kickback Statute?” The Anti-Kickback Statute or “AKS” has been the source of many False Claims Act cases and brought whistleblowers hundreds of millions of dollars (see, for example settlement against Covidien). The Anti-Kickback Statute, in sum, is a law that seeks to ensure the quality of patient care and deter abuse…
The Department of Justice announced that it reached a whistleblower kickback settlement under the False Claims Act with Medstar Health. Hospital Kickback Allegations Medstar Health Inc. and its fellow defendants are hospitals and medical centers. The allegations revolve around kickbacks. While kickbacks in many industries are legal, they are not in the healthcare industry. The Anti-Kickback Statute makes it…
Whistleblowers report fraud to protect the government, taxpayers, citizens, but what laws protect whistleblowers? It is important for whistleblowers to know these laws and their rights to safeguard against retaliation. Deciding what law to report retaliation under is the most important decision. A whistleblower attorney will assist their clients in this decision making process. The answer to this question…
Case Name: United States et al. ex rel. Ernest Sharp v. Americare Ambulance Case Number: 8:13-cv-1171T33-AEP Settlement Amount: $5.5 Million Court: Middle District of Florida Ambulance Fraud Case Description AmeriCare Ambulance Service, Inc. and its sister company, AmeriCare ALS, Inc. (collectively, AmeriCare), agreed to pay $5.5 Million to resolve a False Claims Act lawsuit. The qui tam lawsuit alleges…
Below please find information related to dermatologist fraud. Case Name: United States ex rel. Janet Burke v. Norman A. Brooks, M.D. Inc. et al. Case Number: 14-6735 Settlement Amount: $3 million Court: Central District of California Description of Dermatologist Fraud Qui Tam Case A dermatologist and surgeon settled a False Claims Act case against him for $2,681,400. This qui…
Case Name: United States ex rel. Doe v. Covidien et al. Court: Eastern District Pennsylvania Settlement Amount: $13,000,000 Covidien LP (“Defendant”) agreed to pay $13 million to resolve a False Claims Act lawsuit filed by qui tam lawyer Shauna Itri on behalf of her client in November 2015. The doctor fraud lawsuit alleges that the Defendant used a post-market registry to pay…
The Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice published the annual “fraud statistics.” This publication contains information regarding reporting government fraud from October 1986 through September 30, 2018. The statistics contain qui tam and non-qui tam settlement and judgment information. Below is a look at some of the findings. Other findings will be reported in our blogs at…
The Department of Justice filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on February 8, 2019 endorsing a longer statute of limitations for qui tam cases. The False Claims Act Case The qui tam case filed by a whistleblower manager named Billy Joe Hunt accusing Parsons Corp. and Cochise Consultancy Inc. of defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense in…
The United States increased healthcare spending, from 2016-2017, by 3.9% reaching $3.5 trillion. In other words, $10,739 was spent per person for healthcare in 2017. The overall share o gross domestic product (GDP) related to healthcare spending was 17.9% in 2017. This is very similar to the 18% spent in 2016. Medicare and Medicaid Spending CMS reported that in…
It was announced, on February 8, 2019, that the United States has filed a False Claims Act suit against Mission Support Alliance LLC (MSA), Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC), Lockheed Martin Services Inc. (LMSI), and Jorge Francisco Armijo for alleged false claims and kickbacks in connection with a multi-billion dollar contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) to support the…
We often get the question: “What is…
The Department of Justice announced that it…