Archive

Rite Aid Settles Allegations Over Improper Opioid Dispensing

Rite Aid Corporation, one of the biggest names in the retail pharmacy industry, has reached a settlement following allegations of improper practices related to opioid dispensing. This settlement, announced by the U.S. Department of Justice, involves a total payment of $7.5 million to resolve claims under the False Claims Act  and Controlled Substances Act (CSA). 

From 2014 to 2019, Rite Aid allegedly dispensed...

Opioid Exploitation: Doctor and Staff Charged with Conspiracy and Fraud

VNS Health: $1M Settlement for Failing To Provide Services to Hospice Patients

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced a substantial settlement with Visiting Nurse Service of New York (formerly VNSNY, now VNS Health) and its related entities. This settlement addresses allegations of fraudulent billing practices that undermined the Medicaid program meant to support some of the most vulnerable patients like those in hospice.  VNS Health is one of the largest...

Government Agencies Focus on PE Firms in Health Care

The government has increased its scrutiny of PE firms and other investors in healthcare companies.  Yesterday, the government announced a joint effort between the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to inquire into “private-equity and other corporations’ increasing control over health care.”  This may signal increased...

Catch of the Week - Endo Health Solutions

This week's Department of Justice (DOJ) Catch of the Week goes to Endo Health Solutions.  Yesterday (February 29), the now-bankrupt pharmaceutical company agreed to pay up to $465 million over 10 years to settle criminal and civil charges relating to its sales and marketing of the opioid drug Opana.  Endo voluntarily withdrew the drug from the market in 2017. This bankruptcy-negotiated payout flows from a...

DOJ Releases False Claims Act Results for 2023

The Department of Justice (DOJ) just released its False Claims Act results for 2023.  By all accounts, it was another big year for the government's primary fraud-fighting tool.  The top-line numbers are roughly $2.7 billion in total recoveries from 543 settlements and judgments, the highest number of settlements and judgments in a single year.  This brings the total tally of False Claims Act recoveries to more than...

DOJ Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Credits Whistleblowers, Identifies 2024 Priorities

DOJ Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton recently spoke at the 2024 Federal Bar Association’s Qui Tam Conference.  Here are a few key takeaways from his remarks, which can be found here.

1. Crediting Whistleblowers. Boynton lauded whistleblowers, calling them “a critical source of [DOJ’s] enforcement efforts,” and he thanked them and their counsel for their efforts, adding that the DOJ...

New York Doctor Indicted for $20.7 Million in Medicare Fraud and Kickback Scheme

On February 21, 2024, a federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted Dr. Alexander Baldonado, of Queens, New York, for his alleged involvement in a complex health care fraud and illegal kickback scheme. According to the DOJ press release, this scheme involved the submission of over $20.7 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, primarily for medically unnecessary genetic cancer screening and Covid-19...

Catch of the Week: Lincare, Inc.

This week's Department of Justice (DOJ) Catch of the Week goes to Lincare, Inc., a durable medical equipment supplier with locations throughout the country.  Yesterday (February 15), the company agreed to pay $25.5 million to settle DOJ charges of violating the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for the rental of non-invasive ventilators (NIVs) when patients no longer needed or used them.  DOJ also charged Lincare...

Top Ten Healthcare False Claims Act Recoveries for 2023

This past year was another big year for DOJ enforcement under the False Claims Act, the government's primary fraud-fighting tool.  And as we noted in our recent Top Ten listing of False Claims Act recoveries for 2023, all but 3 of the Top Ten recoveries were in the healthcare space involving various schemes to defraud Medicare and Medicaid.  So here is our look at the Top Ten healthcare recoveries for...