How to Choose the Best Whistleblower Attorney for You

This post was last updated on February 10, 2020 5 Key Factors to Evaluate When Searching for a Top Whistleblower Law Firm to Take Your Case [caption id="attachment_41481" align="alignright" width="325"] Click for full size image[/caption] Whistleblowers are courageous men and women who come forward to disclose information that helps expose wrongdoing. Reporting unlawful behavior or injustice is never an easy thing to do —  it is a complicated, stressful process....

Grant Fraud

The United States Government awards more than $500 billion in annual grants and state governments award billions more on top of that. These grants support infrastructure projects, invest in healthcare, fund university research, and make public art more sustainable. These grants are also susceptible to fraud. Fraudulently obtaining or executing a federal grant can run afoul of the False Claims Act, and doing the same under a state grant can...

DOJ Announces Criminal Indictments in International Health Care Fraud Scheme that Caused $1.2 Billion in Medicare Losses

The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that it had issued criminal indictments against two dozen individuals in one of the largest health care fraud schemes in U.S. history. The indictments target an alleged scheme involving the payment of illegal kickbacks and bribes by durable medical equipment (DME) companies in exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries by doctors working with fraudulent telemedicine companies for back, shoulder, wrist, and...

April 9, 2019

A number of telemedicine and durable medical equipment companies, the principals of those companies, and three healthcare providers, were charged with submitting over $1.7 billion in false claims in a scheme to pay unlawful kickbacks and bribes from DME companies in exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries by medical professionals working with fraudulent telemedicine companies for medically unnecessary DME including back, shoulder, wrist and knee braces.  DOJ; USAO MD...

Constantine Cannon Marks Its First 25 Years

Constantine Cannon is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its founding. Constantine Cannon’s founder, Lloyd Constantine, reflected on what a fascinating quarter century it’s been for the firm and its attorneys in his personal blog, Hopelessly Liberal.  Given that the firm’s history includes many of the most notable antitrust cases of recent vintage, we are reposting Lloyd’s recap of our first 25 years in its entirety: HL 72 – The 25th...

Catch of the Week — Fresenius Medical Care

German-based medical device production and services company Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (“FMC”), agreed on March 29th to a $231 million settlement with both DOJ and the SEC to resolve allegations it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes between 2007 and 2016 to publicly employed health and/or government officials to obtain or maintain business in Angola and Saudi Arabia. Additionally, in Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco,...

Baltimore-Area Hospital Chain Pays $35M to Settle Kickback Claims

MedStar Health, a health system in Maryland and Washington, DC, and two of its hospitals have settled allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. The settlement is not a determination of liability. It settles specific allegations that MedStar paid kickbacks to MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates, a cardiology group based in Maryland, in exchange for referrals. Broadly speaking, the Anti-Kickback statute prohibits hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, nursing...

March 21, 2019

Nonprofit healthcare organization MedStar Health Inc. has agreed to pay $35 million to the United States to settle two qui tam lawsuits alleging violations of the False Claims Act at two of its hospitals in Baltimore. According to the first complaint, filed by three cardiac surgeons, MedStar paid illegal remuneration to MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates (MACVA) to induce referrals of Medicare patients. The second complaint, filed by former patients, alleged that...

February 27, 2019

A Florida-based home health agency owner, Alexander Ros Lazo, has been sentenced to over 7 years in prison and ordered to pay $8.6 million in restitution for defrauding Medicare. In exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries to his company, T.L.C. Health Services, Dos Lazo paid kickbacks to co-conspirators and caused his co-conspirators to submit billing for physical therapy services performed by an unlicensed practitioner, Misleady Ibarra. Along with Ros...

February 22, 2019

Marketers, doctors, lawyers, and medical service provider defendants were sentenced this week for their roles in a multi-million dollar California worker's compensation fraud scheme in the San Diego area.  The defendants recruited patients and referred them to co-defendant attorneys to file fraudulent claims on their behalf and medical providers who performed often unnecessary and painful medical procedures for which they would then bill insurers including California Workers' Compensation.  Ronald Grusd,...