Archive

August 28, 2017

Oklahoma physician Dr. Gordon P. Laird agreed to pay $580,000 to settle allegations he violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare for services he did not provide or properly supervise.  He is a former owner and employee of the companies Blackwell Feet Plus, LLC, and Feet Plus, LLC, which later did business as Prevention Plus. DOJ (WDOK)

August 24, 2017

Nashville-based transportation service provider Employment & Assessment Solutions, Inc. and its principal Chris Manus agreed to pay $550,000 to settle allegations they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to TennCare for transportation services which were never provided, including claims for patients who were actually incarcerated or hospitalized at the time of the purported transport. DOJ (MDTN)

August 23, 2017

St. Agnes Healthcare agreed to pay roughly $123,000 to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for evaluation and management services at a higher reimbursement rate than the Federal health care programs allowed.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Jonathan Safren, a former St. Agnes cardiologist.  He will receive a whistleblower award of $20,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ (DMD)

August 23, 2017

US Bioservices Corp. agreed to pay $13.4 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by participating in a kickback scheme with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. relating to the Novartis drug Exjade.  Specifically, the government alleges US Bio was promised additional patient referrals and related benefits in return for refilling a higher percentage of Exjade than the two other pharmacies that also dispensed Exjade.  DOJ (SDNY)

August 18, 2017

Godwin Oriakhi, the owner of five Houston-area home health agencies, was sentenced to 480 months in prison for conspiring to defraud Medicare and the State of Texas’ Medicaid-funded Home and Community-Based Service (HCBS) and Primary Home Care (PHC) Programs of more than $17 million.  The HCBS and PHC Programs provided qualified individuals with in-home attendant and community-based services that are known commonly as “provider attendant services.” (PAS).  This case marks the largest PAS fraud case charged in Texas history. DOJ

August 17, 2017

Pharmaceutical companies Mylan Inc. and Mylan Specialty L.P. agreed to pay $465 million to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act by purposely misclassifying EpiPen as a generic drug to avoid paying higher Medicaid rebates.  Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, state Medicaid programs are entitled to larger rebates for brand-name drugs compared to generics.  According to the government, Mylan circumvented this program and its purpose by erroneously reporting EpiPen as a generic drug to Medicaid so it could demand massive price increases in the private market while avoiding its corresponding rebate obligations to Medicaid.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by competing pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis US.  Sanofi will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $38.7 million from the proceeds of the government’s recovery. Whistleblower Insider

August 15, 2017

Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. agreed to pay $9.2 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly overbilling the government for labor on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships at its shipyards in Pascagoula, Mississippi.  According to the government, the company mischarged labor incurred on particular contracts to other contracts, even though the costs were not actually incurred by those contracts.  The government also claimed the company billed the Navy and Coast Guard for dive operations to support ship hull construction that did not actually occur.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by former Huntington Ingalls employee Bryon Faulkner.  He will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $1.6 million. DOJ

August 14, 2017

Maryland-based Midasco, LLC agreed to pay $450,000 to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act failing to comply with the Davis-Bacon Act for not paying workers who performed electrical work on the Virginia I-495 HOV/HOT Lanes Project the prevailing wage required by federal labor standards.  The government alleged Midasco instead improperly classified workers as supervisors and paid them a salary in order to avoid paying the higher wages they were entitled to as electricians.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by David Ridley.  He will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (EDVA)

August 11, 2017

West Palm Beach-based government contractor Academy Medical, LLC and its owners, Edward D. Desser and Daniel M. Shaw, agreed to pay $335,000 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by improperly usurping federal contracting opportunities reserved for certified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The whistleblower will receive an award of $67,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (NDNY)

August 10, 2017

Virginia Beach-based contractor ADS Inc. and its subsidiaries agreed to pay $16 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by conspiring with and causing purported small businesses to submit false claims for payment in connection with fraudulently obtained small business contracts.  The settlement further resolves allegations that ADS engaged in improper bid rigging relating to certain of the fraudulently obtained contracts.  The settlement ranks as one of the largest recoveries involving alleged fraud in connection with small business contracting eligibility.  The purported small businesses affiliated with ADS include Mythics Inc., London Bridge Trading Co. Ltd., and MJL Enterprises LLC, which falsely claimed to be an eligible service-disabled veteran-owned company, and SEK Solutions LLC and Karda Systems LLC, both of which falsely claimed to qualify as socially or economically disadvantaged businesses under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Ameliorate Partners LLP.  It will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $2.9 million.  DOJ