By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Pennsylvania-based hospital chain Vibra Healthcare LLC. On Wednesday, the company agreed to pay $32.7 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for medically unnecessary services. Vibra operates roughly three-dozen long term care hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation...
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) intervention last week in a whistleblower-initiated False Claims Act case is going to make for an awkward holiday season for at least one family. The case, US ex rel. Xing Wei v. Yingshun Garments, Inc. et al, was filed in January 2013 in the Southern District of New York and alleges a scheme to avoid import duties on women’s clothing manufactured in China and sold to retailers in...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to North American Health Care Inc. On Monday, the California-based operator of dozens of skilled nursing facilities -- along with its Chairman John Sorenson and Senior Vice President of Reimbursement Analysis Margaret Gelvezon -- agreed to pay $30 million to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act by billing...
By Max Voldman
Monday’s announcement of the DOJ’s $28.5 million settlement with North American Health Care (“North American”) is the latest in a disturbing trend of healthcare companies profiting off of medically unnecessary services provided (and sometimes not even provided) to America’s seniors. North American, a chain of 35 nursing homes in California, allegedly billed thousands of procedures to...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Regions Bank. On Tuesday, the Birmingham-based bank agreed to pay $52.4 million settle charges that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to medical equipment supply companies U.S. Healthcare Supply LLC and Oxford Diabetic Supply Inc. On Wednesday, the two companies, along with their owners and presidents, agreed to pay more than $12.2 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by making unsolicited calls to Medicare...
By Sarah Poppy Alexander
To say safety standards are crucial to the Army is simply to state the obvious. Service members rely on their equipment to function as intended in any number of life and death situations. The Department of Defense thus depends on its contractors to live up to exacting standards to prevent any kind of lapse that may endanger servicepersons. Unfortunately, contractors and subcontractors...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Jacksonville-based Physicians Group Services, P.A., doing business as Coastal Spine and Pain. On Wednesday, the surgery and pain-management clinic agreed to pay $7.4 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by performing medically unnecessary drug screening procedures. See DOJ Press...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to PNC Bank N.A. On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh-based national banking association agreed to pay $9.5 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act in connection with the issuance of loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). See DOJ Press Release.
The SBA Act allows banks to...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
We are supposed to be in the lazy days of summer. But it has been anything but in the world of whistleblower recoveries under the False Claims Act. This is the statute that allows whistleblowers to (i) bring a lawsuit on the government’s behalf for any fraud or misconduct that caused the government to suffer a financial loss, and (ii) obtain between 15 and 30 percent of...