Whistleblower News From The Inside -- March 27, 2017

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Hospital Company MedStar Can’t Dodge False Claims Act Charges – MedStar Health Inc. must face claims it conspired with a revenue-cycle vendor to submit false admissions certifications for patients covered by Medicare. Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois March 22 refused to dismiss claims brought under the False Claims Act by a former employee of the Columbia, Md.-based hospital company. Bloomberg BNA

Lawyer Pleads Guilty to $600 Million Social Security Fraud That Involved Bribing Federal Judge –  A flamboyant Kentucky lawyer who billed himself as “Mr. Social Security” pleaded guilty Friday for his role in what prosecutors portrayed as a long-running scheme to defraud the government of nearly $600 million in federal disability payments. Eric C. Conn pleaded guilty in federal court in Lexington to stealing from the Social Security Administration and bribing a federal judge. The man who lived in a palatial eastern Kentucky home and was a frequent world traveler faces up to 12 years in prison at his July 14 sentencing. Chicago Tribune

Shell Accused of Concealing Data on the Health Effects of Two Major Oil Spills on Nigerian Communities – A whistleblower has accused oil giant Shell of concealing data on the health effects of two major oil spills on communities in Nigeria. In a letter seen by the Independent, Kay Holtzmann, a former employee at the company, said data gathered in the Bodo community which was devastated by two huge oil spills in 2008 and 2009, showed levels of pollution were “astonishingly high”. He also accused the company of refusing to make the findings public. The Independent