August 2, 2021

Diabetic testing supply company Arriva Medical LLC and its parent company Alere Inc. will pay $160 million to resolve claims first brought in a whistleblower case alleging that Arriva provided unlawful patient inducements in the form of “free” or “no cost” glucometers and copayment waivers.  Defendants were alleged to have systematically provided all new patients with glucometers, and billed Medicare for those meters, although Medicare beneficiaries are only eligible for a new meter once every five years.  In addition, Arriva was alleged to have billed Medicare for deceased beneficiaries.  The whistleblower, Gregory Goodman, who was an employee at an Arriva call center, will receive a whistleblower award of $28.5 million.  Executives at Arriva previously agreed to a settlement of claims against them.  DOJ; USAO MD Tenn

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,