January 20, 2022

A three-year-long kickback scheme effectuated by a hospital executive and seven doctors will net the DOJ a $1.1 million settlement and their continued cooperation in the investigation of and litigation against other parties. The Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute violations occurred over a three-year period, wherein management service organizations (MSOs) paid volume-based commissions kickbacks for ordering laboratory tests from Rockdale Hospital d/b/a Little River Healthcare, True Health Diagnostics LLC, and...

Top Ten Healthcare Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Consistent with the trend in prior years, the bulk of the Justice Department’s fraud and false claims recoveries in 2021 stemmed from healthcare fraud matters. Most of the funds recovered arose from cases originated by whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The majority of the recoveries on this list involve allegations of violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, a federal law that prohibits medical providers from...

Top Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act Recoveries of 2021

Our roundup of 2021’s Top Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries illustrates the statute’s continuing capacity to fight both conventional and emergent frauds straddling a variety of industries. In 2021 alone, the United States recovered hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds obtained through false claims tainted by textbook contracting fraud schemes (overbilling on government contracts, selling the government substandard products and services, and the like) as well as evolving...

Constantine Cannon LLP Announces Three Partnership Promotions

Hamsa Mahendranathan, Sarah “Poppy” Alexander, and Ari Yampolsky join the partnership ranks of the largest and most successful international whistleblower practice in the world NEW YORK, December 8, 2021 –– Constantine Cannon LLP is pleased to announce that it has elevated three attorneys, Hamsa Mahendranathan, Sarah “Poppy” Alexander, and Ari Yampolsky, to partners of the firm. All three attorneys have contributed to the firm’s landmark work representing whistleblowers as they...

November 9, 2021

Kaléo, Inc., a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Virginia, has agreed to pay $12.7 million to resolve a whistleblower’s allegations that it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act in claims submitted to Medicare, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.  Between 2017 and 2020, kaléo allegedly provided kickbacks to physicians and their staff to induce and reward them for prescribing Evzio, a higher-priced version of a drug used to...

November 8, 2021

Florida-based medical device company Arthrex Inc. has agreed to pay $16 million and enter into a five-year corporate integrity agreement to resolve allegations of paying kickbacks to a Colorado-based orthopedic surgeon in exchange for the surgeon’s use and recommendation of its products.  According to a qui tam suit by whistleblower Joseph Shea, the kickbacks were disguised as royalty payments for the surgeon’s contributions to Arthrex’s SutureBridge and SpeedBridge products.  For...

Catch of the Week: Fraudulent Sleep Tests in Fresno

Fraud permeates through all aspects of America’s healthcare system- from hospitals to big pharma to chiropractors. This week’s catch of the week focuses on another part of the system, sleep clinics. As increasing numbers of troubled sleepers are seeking diagnosis and treatment of chronic sleep disorders, the significant growth in sleep medicine over recent years brings increasing opportunities for the unscrupulous to engage in fraudulent services and billing, exactly what...

October 25, 2021

Curant, Inc., which owns pharmacies in Florida and Georgia, has agreed to pay $4.6 million to resolve allegations of paying kickbacks to a third-party marketer, waiving mandatory copays from patients, and overbilling TRICARE for compound pain and scar creams.  The alleged misconduct occurred between 2013 and 2015.  USAO NDGA

Catch of the Week: Private Equity Firm and Former Executives of a Mental Health Center Reach $25 Million Medicaid Settlement

In recent years there has been a proliferation of private equity firms taking oversight of healthcare entities. These private equity firms have increased their exposure to False Claims Act liability by playing active roles in the operation of healthcare entities, and multiple settlements have been reached over the last two years (on kickbacks and promotion of unapproved use of drug-device systems on pediatric patients). This week, we focus on the...

Catch of the Week: 18 Former N.B.A. Players Charged in Healthcare Fraud Scheme

Former professional basketball players, including Terence Williams, "Big Baby" Glen Davis, Sebastian Telfair, and Tony Allen, have been indicted for submitting fraudulent claims for reimbursement of medical and dental services not actually rendered. From 2017 through last year, defendants' scheme caused the N.B.A. Players' Health and Welfare Benefit Plan ("the Plan") to pay out nearly $4 million in false claims. The Plan, which is funded by NBA member teams, offers...