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Partner Mary Inman Speaks about Research Fraud with Science Whistleblower Dr. Elisabeth Bik at the HCCA’s Research Compliance Conference

Posted 07/23/21

On June 16, 2021, Constantine Cannon partner Mary Inman spoke at the Health Care Compliance Association’s (HCCA) Research Compliance Conference on the topic of ‘The Vital Role of Whistleblower Scientists in Exposing Fraudulent Research During the Pandemic.’ Mary was joined by co-panelist Dr. Elisabeth Bik, the Founder and Editor of the Science Integrity Digest, a blog about scientific integrity aimed at...

Tagged in: COVID-19, Grant and Research Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Other Government Health Programs, Whistleblower Evidence,

Catch of the Week: EEG Testing Company and Private-Investment Company to Pay $15.3M for Kickback and False-Billing Allegations

Posted 07/23/21

man holding money in hand and another hand with one finger over mouth

Whistleblowers came forward with six False Claims Act actions against a national EEG testing company and an investment company for allegedly paying kickbacks and falsely billing government healthcare programs. Texas-based provider Alliance Family of Companies (now Stratus) and private investor Ancor Holdings together will pay $15.3 million to resolve the cases. For their actions in coming forward, two...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Catch of the Week, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Medical Billing Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

Fifth Circuit Affirms Government Dismissal Of Cases Brought By Corporate Whistleblower

Posted 07/16/21

Last week, a three-judge panel of the Court of the Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with the government in its bid to dismiss a whistleblower case brought by a limited liability company against pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Bayer. The case offers another example of the government flexing its dismissal power in the wake of the Granston Memo, a 2018 Department of Justice directive to winnow False Claims Act...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Court Decision, FCA Federal, Government Decision, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Whistleblower Case,

FDA’s Approval of Alzheimer’s Drug Highlights Need for Whistleblowers

Posted 07/9/21

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to protect American consumers from unscrupulous private actors—charlatans, snake-oil salesmen, and the like—seeking to profit by selling unproven medical “cures,” treatments, and devices to the public. Emerging during the era of the robber barons as part of Theodore Roosevelt’s efforts to “civilize capitalism,” the FDA has prevented untold harm to...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FDA Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicare, Pharma Fraud,

Catch of the Week: Medical Device Companies to Pay $38.75M Over Defective Coagulation Monitor Allegations Linked to Patient Deaths, Injuries

Posted 07/9/21

Medical device manufacturers Alere Inc. and Alere San Diego Inc. will pay nearly $40 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly sold defective blood coagulation monitors used by Medicare beneficiaries and falsely billed Medicare for the devices. The monitors are supposed to ensure that patients taking anticoagulant drugs receive a safe dosage to avoid life-threatening consequences from too much or too little...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare,

A New Day for Data Whistleblowers: DOJ Joins First False Claims Act Case Brought by Data Analysis Firm Whistleblower

Posted 06/17/21

In a potential watershed moment, data whistleblowing pioneer Integra Med Analytics secured their first government intervention in a False Claims Act case alleging Medicare billing fraud against a group of skilled nursing facilities in New York. Integra's action alleges that over the course of almost a decade, the fraud resulted in overcharges exceeding $129 million.

Integra's Data Whistleblowing

Integra purports to...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, SNF, Upcoding, Whistleblower Eligibility,

Book Review: “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty,” by Patrick Radden Keefe

Posted 06/3/21

Last October, Purdue Pharma, the inventor, manufacturer, and marketer of Oxycontin, the drug at the center of the opioid crisis, reached a massive healthcare fraud settlement with the Department of Justice. The Department advertised the settlement as an $8.3 billion dollar recovery, which would make it one of the largest healthcare fraud settlements in history. In his book Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe explores...

Tagged in: Importance of Whistleblowers, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Bookshelf,

Catch of the Week: Dental Clinics to Pay $2.7M for Using Unsterilized Tools on Medicaid Patients

Posted 05/28/21

For over five years, Upper Allegheny Health Systems, a health care system operating several dental clinics in New York and Pennsylvania, allegedly performed dental services without sterilizing equipment between patients and falsely billed Medicaid for those services. After a former employee blew the whistle, the United States and the State of New York stepped in to investigate, and the defendant agreed to a $2.7...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

DOJ Lowers The Boom On COVID-19 Healthcare Scams, Again

Posted 05/28/21

Hey, fraudsters, did you hear? There was a global pandemic, so the government pumped trillions of dollars into the economy. Probably a good time to get a piece of the cut, you ask? They’ll never find out, right? So many ways to grift! Well, not so much. From the start, the cops on the beat, led by the United States Department of Justice, have screamed from the rooftops: “Don’t do it. We WILL...

Tagged in: COVID-19, Criminal Proceedings, FCA Federal, Financial and Investment Fraud, Government Programs Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Laboratory and IDTF, Lack of Medical Necessity, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Medical Billing Fraud, Misrepresentations, Pharma Fraud, Securities Fraud,

Private-Equity Red Flags Signal Potential False Claims Act Liability

Posted 05/21/21

Private equity (PE) firms that manage healthcare entities have further reason to take note of the growing record of exposure for False Claims Act (FCA) liability.

Martino-Fleming Case

In the latest shot across the bow, the PE firm, a majority shareholder of a for-profit mental-health provider, knew about the false claims and played a sufficiently active role in operations potentially to have caused them. Evidence...

Tagged in: COVID-19, Defendants, FCA Federal, Financial and Investment Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Provider Fraud, SNF,

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Partner Mary Inman Speaks about Research Fraud with Science Whistleblower Dr. Elisabeth Bik at the HCCA’s Research Compliance Conference

Catch of the Week: EEG Testing Company and Private-Investment Company to Pay $15.3M for Kickback and False-Billing Allegations

Fifth Circuit Affirms Government Dismissal Of Cases Brought By Corporate Whistleblower

FDA’s Approval of Alzheimer’s Drug Highlights Need for Whistleblowers

Catch of the Week: Medical Device Companies to Pay $38.75M Over Defective Coagulation Monitor Allegations Linked to Patient Deaths, Injuries

A New Day for Data Whistleblowers: DOJ Joins First False Claims Act Case Brought by Data Analysis Firm Whistleblower

Integra's Data Whistleblowing

Book Review: “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty,” by Patrick Radden Keefe

Catch of the Week: Dental Clinics to Pay $2.7M for Using Unsterilized Tools on Medicaid Patients

DOJ Lowers The Boom On COVID-19 Healthcare Scams, Again

Private-Equity Red Flags Signal Potential False Claims Act Liability

Martino-Fleming Case

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