Whistleblower News From The Inside -- August 21, 2017
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Pharmacy and Medical Practice Accused of Using San Diego Marines in $67 million Healthcare Fraud – A small pharmacy in Utah and a doctor’s office in Tennessee have been implicated in an alleged kickback scheme that used San Diego County Marines to defraud the military’s health insurance provider out of at least $67 million, according to court records filed in San Diego by federal authorities. The allegations add to a growing number of investigations into fraudulent prescriptions of compound medications – high-priced drugs custom-made by pharmacists to tailor to a patient’s specific needs. The investigations have led to arrests in similar cases across the country and a change in how TRICARE — which serves 9.4 million active, retired and reserve military and their families — bills for such drugs. San Diego Tribune
Former CEO of Arthrocare Corporation Convicted for Orchestrating $750 Million Securities Fraud Scheme – A federal jury today convicted the former chief executive officer of ArthroCare Corporation, a publicly traded medical device company based in Austin, Texas, for his role in orchestrating a fraud scheme that resulted in shareholder losses of over $750 million. Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr. of the Western District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Field office made the announcement. After a two-week trial, a jury in the Western District of Texas found the former CEO, Michael Baker, 58, of Austin, Texas, guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud and two counts of making false statements. Baker was charged in a superseding indictment unsealed on July 17, 2013. DOJ
Par Pharmaceutical Beats FCA Prescription-Switch Claims – Par Pharmaceutical Cos. Inc. beat False Claims Act allegations brought by a retired pharmacist, the U.S. and two states, when an Illinois federal judge ruled Thursday that the pharmacist was not the original source for the prescription-switching allegations and that the Medicaid claims were not actually shown to be false. U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. granted Par summary judgment in two separate opinions — one involving relator Bernard Lisitza’s claims and the other regarding allegations brought by the U.S., Michigan and Indiana — disposing of allegations that Par caused national pharmacy chains to submit false claims for reimbursement as part of a plot to defraud Medicaid. Law360