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…
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 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…
$269 Million False Claims Act Settlement Against Walgreens Walgreens Pays $269 Million to Settle Multiple False Claims Act cases. The cases allege that the retail pharmacy (1) over billed the government for insulin pens by understating the amount of treatment days covered by supplies of pens that allowed it to bill for prescriptions that would have been denied as…
We often get the question: “What is…
The Department of Justice announced that it…