Contact

Click here for a confidential contact or call:

1-212-350-2774

Archive

Page 10 of 158

December 5, 2022

Optical lens manufacturer Essilor Laboratories of America, Inc. will pay $23.8 million to California to resolve allegations that the company violated the state’s Insurance Frauds Prevention Act when it allegedly provided kickbacks and other unlawful incentives to eye care providers in exchange for these providers’ promises to send business to Essilor. The state’s action was initiated by a whistleblower complaint filed by Christie Rudolph, who will receive a whistleblower reward of approximately $11.1 million. (see earlier settlement) CA

Tagged in: Medical Devices and DME, Private Insurance Whistleblower Reward Programs, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

November 15, 2022

Walmart has agreed to pay $3.1 billion for its failure to oversee opioid dispensing in its pharmacies, helping to fuel the opioid crisis. Walmart will implement better policies and procedures and submit to increased oversight. Much of the settlement funding is designated for opioid treatment and recovery services, in addition to creating a Controlled Substance Compliance Director to oversee the settlement’s requirements. CA AG; NY AG; OR AG; DE AG; VA AG; KS AG

Tagged in: Pharma Fraud,

November 14, 2022

The Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association and a related entity, which were created by the State of Florida to provide compensation for the medical, rehabilitative and custodial care of children who suffered certain categories of birth-related neurological injuries, will pay $51 million to resolve a whistleblower’s qui tam lawsuit, pursued on a non-intervened basis, alleging that they fraudulently caused NICA participants to submit their healthcare claims to Medicaid rather than NICA, in violation of Medicaid’s status as the payer of last resort under federal law.  The relators, Veronica Arven and the estate of Theodore Arven III, will receive $12,750,000 as their share of the recovery.  DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

November 3, 2022

Teva Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., subsidiary Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, and its affiliates will pay $523 million to New York State for their role in fueling the opioid crisis. Injunctive relief includes a ban on high-dose opioids and prescription savings programs, prohibitions on marketing and funding third parties that promote opioids, restrictions on political lobbying, and monitoring and reporting of off-label use of fentanyl nasal spray products. NYAG

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud, Off-Label and Unapproved Use, Pharma Fraud,

November 3, 2022

Titan Medical Compliance, LLC, and its chiropractor owner Timothy Warren, have been ordered to pay over $15 million to resolve claims that they falsely marketed auricular electro-acupuncture devices as FDA-approved and Medicare-reimbursable, when in fact they are not.  The judgment against Warren and Titan is the latest in a federal investigation into the improper billing of these non-surgical devices.  USAO EDPA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Provider Fraud,

November 1, 2022

Electronic health record technology vendor Modernizing Medicine, Inc. (“ModMed”) has agreed to pay $45 million to resolve allegations, including by its former VP of Product Management, that it both received and provided illegal kickbacks in exchange for referrals.  According to the government and whistleblower Amanda Long, ModMed engaged in schemes with Miraca Life Sciences, Inc. (now known as Inform Diagnostics) to receive kickbacks in exchange for recommending its users for Miraca’s lab services, and to provide its EHR technology free to healthcare providers to entice them to direct lab orders to Miraca and add to ModMed’s user base.  Long will receive about $9 million of the settlement with ModMed. DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Electronic Health Records, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

October 31, 2022

Felix Amos of Houston, TX will serve 30 months in federal prison and will pay over $21 million in restitution for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme carried out with two other co-defendants. From 2010 to 2015, Amos owned and operated home health companies Dayton Health Bridges, Access Practical Solutions, Advanced Holistic, GetUpandWalk Inc., and Guaranty Home Health Agency. Amos and his co-conspirators submitted false claims to Medicare for patients that did not need or receive services, including deceased or incarcerated persons, and for services not ordered by a physician. USAO SDTX

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Provider Fraud,

October 18, 2022

Carter Healthcare LLC, affiliates CHC Holdings and Carter-Florida, president Stanley Carter, and Chief Operations Officer Bradley Carter have agreed to pay $23 million and $7.2 million to settle two whistleblower cases alleging violations of the False Claims Act.  The first case, filed in the Western District of Oklahoma, alleged that the Oklahoma-based home health company paid illegal kickbacks to physicians under the guise of medical directorships in order to induce referrals.  The second case, filed in the Southern District of Florida by former therapists Sharon Mahaffey and Mark Brimer, alleged that Carter Healthcare billed Medicare for medically unnecessary therapy and upcoded patient diagnoses for higher reimbursements.  As part of the settlements, defendants Stanley and Bradley Carter have agreed to be excluded from participating in government healthcare programs for 5 years, and whistleblowers Mahaffey and Brimer will split a $1.3 million relator’s share.  USAO WDOK; USAO SDFL

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

October 17, 2022

Sutter Health has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle claims of billing Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for quantitative urine testing that were in fact performed by third-party labs.  The company has already paid more than $6.5 million and is due to pay the remaining $6.5 million in the next 30 days.  USAO NDCA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF, Medicaid, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs,

October 14, 2022

The owners of two Texas-based home health clinics have been sentenced to 10 years in prison each after a jury convicted them of conspiring to commit healthcare fraud.  Alfred Olotin Alatan, who owned Colony Home Health Services, and Francis Ekene, who owned Milten Medical Clinic, allegedly paid recruiters for patient information, then billed providers for home health services, regardless of need.  Co-conspirators Susana Bermudez and Rita Kpotie Smith, both of whom operated the clinics under Alatan’s direction, are currently serving 2.5 years and 5 years in prison, respectively.  USAO SDTX

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Healthcare Fraud, Home Health and Hospice, Lack of Medical Necessity,

1 … 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 … 158

Newsletter

Subscribe to receive email updates from the Constantine Cannon blogs

Sign up for: