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October 9, 2019

The largest operator of kidney dialysis clinics in the United States has agreed to pay $5.2 million to resolve a lawsuit alleging it submitted false claims to Medicare for excessive and unnecessary immune tests.  From 2013 to 2010, Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc. allegedly billed Medicare for Hepatitis B surface antigen tests it performed on patients already known to be immune, at a frequency well above that established by Medicare.  For exposing the alleged False Claims Act violations, former employee Christopher Drennen will receive a 27.5% share of the recovery.  USAO MA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicare, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

October 4, 2019

Florida man Brock Lovelace has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison following his conviction at trial on charges related to his payment of kickbacks to medical clinics in the Miami area in exchange for the clinics providing him with DNA samples for submission to a DNA testing laboratory between 2013 and 2014.  Lovelace requested that the medical clinics collect the DNA of all the patients who visited the clinics; in turn, the clinics provided food and other inducements to beneficiaries to get them to visit.  Lovelace then submitted the DNA swabs to a testing lab, which billed Medicare.  The patients were not provided with the results of the DNA testing, and typically did not have any medical need for the DNA testing.  Lovelace was previously sentenced to 14 years in prison on other healthcare fraud charges; he will serve the present sentence consecutively.  DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Criminal Proceedings, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF, Lack of Medical Necessity,

October 4, 2019

Southern California-based Retina Institute of California Medical Group (RIC), its former CEO, and several of its physicians have agreed to pay the State of California and United States $6.65 million to settle alleged violations of state and federal False Claims Acts.  According to former administrators Bobbette Smith and Susan Rogers, between 2006 and 2017, the ophthalmology group improperly billed Medicare and Medicaid for unnecessary and unperformed eye exams, upcoded simple exams using codes normally reserved for emergency conditions, and waived mandatory co-payments and deductibles to induce patient referrals.  Smith and Rogers will receive a relator’s share, which remains to be determined.  USAO CDCA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Provider Fraud, Upcoding, Whistleblower Case,

September 26, 2019

The Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, together with related entities and the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, which operate University Health Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, will pay $530,000 to resolve claims that they submitted improper claims for implantable automatic defibrillators.  To be reimbursed for the procedures, Medicare requires providers and hospitals to submit data regarding them to a qualified registry, so that the procedures can be further studied; University Health Hospital failed to make the required data submissions.  The investigation was initiated by a qui tam lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act.  USAO WD LA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Hospital Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Whistleblower Case,

September 26, 2019

Physician Philippe R. Chain will pay $300,000 to resolve allegations that he caused the submission of false claims to Tricare while working for telemedicine company CallMD. Chain allegedly issued and approved prescriptions for compounded medications, many of which were not medically necessary, without speaking to, examining, or otherwise having a physician-patient relationship with the patients.  USAO CT

Tagged in: Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, FCA Federal, Lack of Medical Necessity, Other Government Health Programs, Provider Fraud,

September 19, 2019

Selma, Alabama hospital Vaughan Regional Medical Center, together with two of its ER physicians and an affiliated company, will pay $1.45 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by having medical residents who were not fully licensed and credentialed provide emergency room services.  The hospital then falsified medical records and submitted claims to Medicare as if the services had been provided by a licensed physician.  The case originated with a qui tam action filed by Dr. Samuel Clemmons, who will receive $275,000.  USAO SD AL

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Hospital Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Medical Billing Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

September 17, 2019

Physician Alliance Ltd. (PAL) and its medical director agreed to pay $178,000 to resolve False Claims Act allegations for improperly billing Medicare for providing patients with electric acupuncture medical devices that is affixed behind patients' ears. Since Medicare does not reimburse for acupunctural devices, PAL allegedly billed Medicare for the “implantation of neurostimulator electrodes,” a procedure that requires surgery and for which Medicare reimburses in the thousands of dollars. The case was investigated out of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. DOJ

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

September 17, 2019

Physician Alliance Ltd. and Richard Frey, D.O. will pay $178,400 to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare.  When defendants provided patients with "P-Stim" devices, which are worn on a patient's ear and marketed as an acupuncture treatment, they billed Medicare for the implantation of neurostimulator electrodes, which is a surgical procedure for which Medicare reimburses thousands of dollars.  By contrast, Medicare does not reimburse for acupuncture or acupuncture devices.  USAO EDPA

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

September 12, 2019

Following his conviction earlier this year, Philip Esformes was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in orchestrating a Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme through his network of assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.  Esformes bribed physicians to admit patients, then provided them with inadequate, inappropriate, or unnecessary services.  To ensure his facilities maintained state licenses, he bribed Florida state regulators.  DOJ; USAO SD FL

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Criminal Proceedings, Lack of Medical Necessity, SNF,

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