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October 20, 2021

South Carolina provider Colonial Family Practice, LLC, has agreed to pay $1.25 million to resolve claims that they submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE for medically unnecessary nuclear stress tests and Cystatin-C tests, the latter of which were routinely submitted as part of a panel run on most patients, despite being payable for only a narrow set of patients.  The settlements resolve two qui tam actions brought by a former clinical manager and by a former physician assistant.  USAO SC

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

October 20, 2021

MD Spine Solutions LLC, d/b/a MD Labs Inc., and its owners, co-founders Denis Grizelj and Matthew Rutledge, have agreed to pay up to $16 million to settle fraud allegations raised by an unnamed whistleblower.  MD Labs had allegedly billed Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs for presumptive urine drug testing as well as confirmatory urine drug testing run on the same samples, which is frequently baseless or useless.  USAO MA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Whistleblower Case,

October 8, 2021

U.S. Medical Management, LLC (USMM) and VPA, P.C. (VPA) have agreed to pay $8.5 million to resolve claims raised in five separate qui tam lawsuits that USMM and VPA billed Medicare for medically unnecessary laboratory and diagnostic testing services between 2010 and 2015.  Although the government did not join any of the lawsuits, the whistleblower who filed first will receive $1.53 million under the alternate remedy provision of the False Claims Act.  USAO EDMI

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicare, Multiple Whistleblowers and First-to-File, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

September 15, 2021

A cardiologist in Florida who allegedly billed Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary procedures has agreed to pay $6.75 million to resolve claims under the False Claims Act.  Between 2013 and 2019, Dr. Ashish Pal allegedly made misrepresentations in patient medical records to justify ablations and vein stent procedures that were not reimbursable under program rules.  Additionally, some of the procedures were later found to have been performed primarily by unqualified ultrasound technicians.  As part of the settlement, Pal and Interventional Cardiology & Vascular Consultants, PLC, will enter in a multiyear integrity agreement and comply with training and reporting requirements, as well as a quarterly claims review by an independent organization.  USAO MDFL

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

September 3, 2021

A number of South Carolina pain management clinics, drug testing laboratories and other entities associated with chiropractor Daniel McCollum have had default judgments entered against them ordering the payment of $140 million.  The defendant entities, Oaktree Medical Centre P.C., FirstChoice Healthcare P.C., Labsource LLC, Pain Management Associates entities, ProLab LLC, and ProCare Counseling Center LLC, were alleged to have provided illegal financial incentives to providers to induce their referrals of urine drug tests in violation of the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute, and to have submitted false claims to federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary urine drug testing, steroid injections, opioid prescriptions, and lidocaine ointment prescriptions.  The settlement resolves claims against the entities brought in three separate qui tam actions Donna Rauch, Muriel Calhoun, Brandy Knight, Karen Mathewson and Tracy Hawkins, former employees of pain management clinics owned or operated by McCollum. The government continues to pursue claims against McCollum.  DOJ; USAO SC; November, 2021 judgment against McCollum

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Multiple Whistleblowers and First-to-File, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

August 25, 2021

A California-based provider of home respiratory services and durable medical equipment has agreed to pay $3.3 million to the United States and States of California and Nevada to settle allegations of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid.  The claims against SuperCare Health, Inc. were brought in a 2018 qui tam suit by respiratory therapist Benjamin Martinez, who alleged that the provider billed for non-invasive ventilators (NIVs) that were no longer needed or being used by patients.  CA AG; USAO CDCA

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

August 25, 2021

Georgia-based psychotherapy provide Carenow Services, LLC, together with its CEO Leena Karun, will pay $2 million to resolve allegations of FCA violations through their billing for services at nursing homes that were not medically necessary, that were improperly documented, and at higher intensity levels than justified.  The investigation was initiated when a former Carenow employee filed a qui tam complaint; the whistleblower will receive an undisclosed whistleblower reward.  USAO ND Ga

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

August 17, 2021

Following a voluntary self-disclosure to authorities, Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Illinois, has agreed to pay $2.82 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims for the facility component of medically unnecessary cardiac catheterization procedures.  The federal government will receive $2.6 million of the settlement, with the remainder going to Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.  USAO CD IL

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

August 9, 2021

The owners of North Carolina compounding pharmacy Wellcare Compouding, David Tsui and Lois Tsui, paid $1.1 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for payment to the TRICARE program in 2014 and 2015.  The government alleged that Wellcare made improper payments to physicians and “marketers” in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and encouraged medically unnecessary prescriptions consisting of high-margin ingredients in order to maximize the pharmacy’s reimbursement. David Tsui had been convicted of healthcare fraud in 2009 and was excluded from participation in federal healthcare programs; the government alleged that his involvement and ownership was intentionally concealed.  USAO MD NC

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Lack of Medical Necessity, Other Government Health Programs, Pharma Fraud,

August 6, 2021

A county in California and a county medical center have agreed to pay $11.4 million to resolve allegations of improperly billing a federal healthcare program between 2013 and 2017.  According to whistleblower Felix Levy, a former employee of San Mateo County Medical Center (SMMC), San Mateo County and SMMC billed Medicare for uncovered hospital stays for patients that were admitted without regard to medical necessity.  USAO NDCA

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

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