Archive

September 26, 2022

Biogen Inc. has agreed to pay $900 million to resolve allegations by former employee Michael Bawduniak that the pharmaceutical company paid illegal kickbacks to physicians in order to induce prescriptions of their multiple sclerosis drugs, causing false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid.  According to Bawduniak, over a five-year period, Biogen paid kickbacks in the form of speaker honoraria, training...

September 14, 2022

Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Akorn Operating Company LLC has agreed to pay $7.9 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act by causing Medicare to pay for three generic drugs that stopped being eligible for coverage when their original manufacturers converted the brand name drugs from prescription only to over-the-counter.  According to a whistleblower, the brand name drugs in question...

September 14, 2022

New York-Presbyterian/Queens Hospital has agreed to pay over $2.5 million to settle allegations that a former physician repeatedly performed and billed federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary procedures, at the risk of patient health.  The procedures involved replacing batteries in an implanted pacemaker type device, even though batteries were still functioning normally and did not yet need to be...

September 2, 2022

Bayer Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, will pay $40 million to settle claims initiated by a whistleblower alleging that the pharmaceutical manufacturer violated the False Claims Act by engaging in off-label marketing, unlawful kickbacks, and misreporting of safety risks with respect to its drugs Trasylol, Avelox, and Baycol.  The whistleblower, former Bayer marketing employee Laurie Simpson, will receive...

September 1, 2022

Philips RS North America LLC, formerly known as Respironics, will pay over $24 million to settle claims that it provided unlawful inducements to DME suppliers in the form of physician prescribing data that the DME suppliers could use in their marketing efforts.  The case was initiated by a qui tam complaint filed by former Respironics employee Jeremy Orling, who will receive a whistleblower award of approximately...

August 31, 2022

Medical device manufacturer Novo Nordisk, Inc. will pay $6.3 million to resolve claims that between 2012 and 2020 the company violated the False Claims Act by selling needles to the United States that were manufactured in non-designated countries in violation of the Trade Agreements Act.  USAO NJ

August 30, 2022

Medical device manufacturer Philips North America has agreed to pay $4.2 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying that mobile patient monitoring devices it sold to military purchasers met standards for airworthiness and passed safe-to-fly testing required to ensure that medical devices can safely be used in aircraft.  As part of the settlement, Philips admitted that...

August 30, 2022

Vision Quest Industries, Inc., which manufactures knee braces and other durable medical equipment, has agreed to pay $2.25 million to resolve claims that it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying commissions to an independent sales representative based on VQ’s net revenue for each knee brace ordered by a particular purchaser which then, in turn, submitted claims for payment to Medicare.  The settlement with...

August 23, 2022

Texas-based Cockerell Dermatopathology (CDP) has agreed to pay $3.75 million to resolve allegations of allowing millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to be submitted to TRICARE, in violation of the False Claims Act.  According to a government suit, CDP’s principal physician, Dr. Clay Cockerell, had allowed laboratory management company Progen to use its license to submit false claims for medically unnecessary...

August 23, 2022

Essilor International and related subsidiaries, which manufacture, market, and distribute optical lenses and equipment to produce optical lenses—have agreed to pay $22 million to resolve federal and state allegations of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid.  In two separate qui tam suits, former sales managers Laura Thompson and Lisa Brez, and Christie Rudolph alleged that Essilor violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and...