Archive

Texas Pediatric Dental Practices to Pay $8.45M to Settle False Claims Act Charges

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Texas-based MB2 Dental Solutions and 21 of the company's affiliated pediatric dental practices agreed to pay $8.45 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims for pediatric dental services that were not rendered, were tainted by kickbacks, or based on misrepresentations of who performed the service. See DOJ Press Release. According...

Top-10 False Claims Act Kickback Recoveries For 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Here is our look-back at the top-10 Department of Justice False Claims Act recoveries in 2016 for violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and/or the Stark Law.  Click here for a full chronological listing of all the DOJ False Claims Act recoveries in 2016.

10. Lexington Medical Center -- The South Carolina hospital agreed to pay $17 million to resolve allegations it violated...

U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General Advisory Opinion: Free Lab Labeling Services May Violate Anti-Kickback Statute

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team The U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) recently reiterated that “The OIG’s position on the provision of free or below-market goods or services to actual or potential referral sources is longstanding and clear: such arrangements are suspect and may violate the anti-kickback statute, depending on the circumstances.” In addition to...

Accountability Through Individual Prosecution: Former Tuomey CEO Pays $1 Million in False Claims Act Settlement

By Ronny Valdes On September 27, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced former Tuomey Healthcare Systems CEO Ralph “Jay” Cox would pay $1 million to settle allegations related to his personal involvement in a fraudulent physician compensation scheme that violated the Stark Law and the False Claims Act (FCA). Tuomey, for its part, settled claims arising from the same scheme last year. In the original case...

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Lexington Medical Center

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to the Lexington County Health Services District Inc. (d/b/a Lexington Medical Center).  Yesterday, the South Carolina hospital agreed to pay $17 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act and the Physician Self-Referral Law (known as the Stark Law) by maintaining improper financial arrangements...

In Their Own Words — Rivera

-- “Enforcement of the False Claims Act is a priority of the Department of Justice and this Office.”

David Rivera, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, commenting in the wake of a $9.35M settlement that resolved allegations of Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law violations. Read more here.

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Olympus Corp.

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Olympus Corp. of America, the country's largest distributor of endoscopes and related equipment.  On Tuesday, the company agreed to pay $623.2 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims for the company's violations of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute through a scheme to pay kickbacks to...

Top-10 False Claims Act Kickback Recoveries For 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Here is our look-back at the top-10 Department of Justice False Claims Act recoveries in 2015 for violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and/or the Stark Law.      10.  AA ADVANCED CARE -- Felix Gonzalez, owner of Miami home health care company AA Advanced Care, was ordered to pay $21.4 million in restitution (and sentenced to 113 months in prison) for billing Medicare...

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Operation Spinal Cap

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to the doctors and other healthcare professionals caught up this week in the government's "Operation Spinal Cap" dragnet.  In a series of related cases the DOJ announced yesterday, the former CFO of Long Beach, California-based Pacific Hospital, two orthopedic surgeons and two others have been charged in long-running...

In Their Own Words — Jones

-- “Injured workers were treated like livestock by doctors and hospitals who paid or accepted kickbacks and bribes in exchange for referrals.”

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones commenting on the recent round of criminal charges in the Justice Department’s ongoing fight against fraud in the spinal surgery industry, code-named “Operation Spinal Cap.”