Medicare Fraudsters Beware; DOJ May Be Reviewing Your Billing Data
Posted 05/15/18
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Maryland physician Sureshkumar Muttath agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to settle claims he violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary autonomic nervous function tests and neurobehavioral status exams. The settlement originated under DOJ’s new initiative of tracking irregularities in Medicare billing data. See DOJ Press...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Banner Health has agreed to pay over $18 million to settle allegations that 12 of its hospitals in Arizona and Colorado knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare by admitting patients who could have been treated on a less costly outpatient basis. Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals in multiple states.
“Taxpayers should not bear...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
On Wednesday, former pharmaceutical sales representative Steven Butcher admitted to running a $45 million scheme to swindle both federally-funded and private health care benefit programs. Butcher was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, a law designed to remove financial incentives...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
On Monday, a federal jury in Miami unanimously convicted Monty Grow of running a compound pharmaceutical drug conspiracy that bilked $20 million from TRICARE, a healthcare program for military members and their families. Grow was a star linebacker at the University of Florida in the early 1990s and spent two seasons as a cornerback in the NFL.
Prosecutors accused Grow of...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
The United States Attorney’s Office in South Carolina announced that a federal jury returned a unanimous verdict against Floyd Calhoun “Cal” Dent and two co-conspirators, Robert Bradford Johnson and LaTonya Mallory, for defrauding Medicare and Tricare. The government alleged that Mr. Dent and his co-conspirators paid kickbacks to physicians so they would order medically...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
AmeriCare Ambulance Service, Inc. and its sister company, AmeriCare ALS, Inc. have reached a $5.5 million settlement with the government, resolving allegations that AmeriCare defrauded Medicare by billing for medically unnecessary ambulance transportation services. According to the government’s complaint, AmeriCare submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare and TRICARE for...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced a $7.62 million settlement with California-based DJO Global Inc. to resolve allegations that a DJO subsidiary falsely billed TRICARE for excessive and unnecessary supplies. The government alleged that the DJO subsidiary used an improper “assumptive selling” technique to induce TRICARE beneficiaries to order supplies that they did...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
A South Carolina family medical practice chain, along with its owner and laboratory director, agreed to pay roughly $2 Million to settle charges of violating the 
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Foundations Health Solutions Inc., Olympia Therapy Inc. and Tridia Hospice Care Inc. On Monday, these Ohio-based companies, comprising one of the largest nursing home operations in the state, and their executives Brian Colleran and Daniel Parker, agreed to pay roughly $19.5 million to resolve allegations that they...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Last week, federal authorities announced that Dr. Rassan M. Tarabein, a neurologist who operates the Eastern Shore Neurology and Pain Center in Daphne, Alabama, had been arrested on myriad federal and state charges relating to health care fraud. A federal grand jury recently returned a 22-count superseding indictment against Tarabein, charging him with health care fraud,...