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Page 8 of 71

September 30, 2022

The owners and operators of three home health care companies in Illinois, Patricia and Felix Omorogbe, have been sentenced to a combined 3.5 years in prison and ordered to pay a combined $8 million in restitution for paying illegal kickbacks to patient marketers in exchange for referrals of Medicare beneficiaries.  According to the DOJ, in addition to the kickbacks, Patricia Omorogbe, a registered nurse, also falsely certified that she performed assessments on patients, causing false claims to be submitted to Medicare.  DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Home Health and Hospice, Medicare, Provider Fraud,

September 27, 2022

Following a whistleblower complaint that alleged Massachusetts-based Public Consulting Group LLC (PCG) overbilled Medicaid, in violation of the False Claims Act, the company has agreed to pay $2.5 million.  According to whistleblower Shane Shackford, PCG caused local school districts to submit false claims to Medicaid while under contract with the State of New Jersey to administer its Special Education Medicaid Initiative (SEMI) program—which provides federal funding to the state and local school districts for providing certain medical services to eligible students.  For his role in the case, Shackford will received a 21% share of the settlement.  USAO NJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

September 26, 2022

Biogen Inc. has agreed to pay $900 million to resolve allegations by former employee Michael Bawduniak that the pharmaceutical company paid illegal kickbacks to physicians in order to induce prescriptions of their multiple sclerosis drugs, causing false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid.  According to Bawduniak, over a five-year period, Biogen paid kickbacks in the form of speaker honoraria, training fees, consulting fees, and free meals.  The vast majority of the settlement proceeds (over $840 million) will go to the federal government, while the remainder will be divided among 15 states.  USAO MA

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medicare, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

September 14, 2022

Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Akorn Operating Company LLC has agreed to pay $7.9 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act by causing Medicare to pay for three generic drugs that stopped being eligible for coverage when their original manufacturers converted the brand name drugs from prescription only to over-the-counter.  According to a whistleblower, the brand name drugs in question were converted in February 2020 and June 2021, but Akorn knowingly failed to seek conversion of their generics until a year later because it knew over-the-counter drugs were non-reimbursable.  USAO MA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Part D, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

September 9, 2022

Daniel Pintado Cazola, the true owner of durable medical equipment company Myers Professional Services, has been sentenced to over 7 years in prison for defrauding Medicare and Medicaid and going to great extents to conceal his connection to the crimes.  Pintado Cazola admitted that he purchased lists of Medicare beneficiaries and directed employees to submit over $2.3 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for durable medical equipment that was not medically necessary, not prescribed by a doctor, and not supplied to a beneficiary.  USAO SDFL

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare,

August 24, 2022

Centene will pay Washington State $19 million to resolve allegations that the company overcharged the state for pharmacy benefit management services.  The state alleged that Centene failed to pass on discounts it received to the state Medicaid program, and inflated dispensing fees.  WA

Tagged in: Drug and DME Pricing, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Pharma Fraud,

August 23, 2022

Texas-based Cockerell Dermatopathology (CDP) has agreed to pay $3.75 million to resolve allegations of allowing millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to be submitted to TRICARE, in violation of the False Claims Act.  According to a government suit, CDP’s principal physician, Dr. Clay Cockerell, had allowed laboratory management company Progen to use its license to submit false claims for medically unnecessary tests in exchange for a twenty percent cut of the proceeds.  USAO NDTX

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF, Other Government Health Programs,

August 23, 2022

Essilor International and related subsidiaries, which manufacture, market, and distribute optical lenses and equipment to produce optical lenses—have agreed to pay $22 million to resolve federal and state allegations of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid.  In two separate qui tam suits, former sales managers Laura Thompson and Lisa Brez, and Christie Rudolph alleged that Essilor violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by paying illegal kickbacks to optometrists and opthalmologists to induce purchases of their products for patients, including patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid.  $5.6 million of the total settlement was allocated between states that were parties to the settlements, and $16.4 million to the federal government. DOJ; USAO EDPA; USAO NDTX; CO; CT; SD (see later CA settlement)

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Whistleblower Case,

August 18, 2022

The organized healthcare system for Ventura County, as well as three healthcare providers, have agreed to pay a combined total of $70.7 million to resolve allegations of violating the California and federal False Claims Acts in connection with Medi-Cal’s Adult Expansion program, which extended coverage to previously uninsured adults without dependents.  Gold Coast Health Plan, Dignity Health, Clinicas del Camino Real, Inc., and Ventura County (the owner and operator of Ventura County Medical Center) allegedly submitted, or caused to be submitted, bills for unallowed expenses, bills for “Additional Services” that were duplicative of services already required, and bills with pre-determined costs that weren’t reflective of fair market value.  CA AG; USAO CDCA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Provider Fraud,

August 10, 2022

American Senior Communities, L.L.C., will pay over $5.5 million for violating the False Claims Act by charging Medicare directly for hospice services that should have already been covered by the beneficiaries’ Medicare hospice coverage. The fraudulent billing practice was exposed in a whistleblower complaint filed by a former employee of a hospice services provider that worked with ASC. The whistleblower is entitled to receive between 15 and 25% of the recovery. USAO SDIN

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Home Health and Hospice, Medicare, SNF, Whistleblower Rewards,

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