Whistleblower News From The Inside -- October 27, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Four Ohio dentists arrested on bribery and conspiracy charges – Four dentists were arrested on charges related to their compensation practices at MetroHealth Systems where bonuses were tied to kickbacks. Several of the dentists are also accused of underreporting taxes. Crain's Cleveland Business Georgia doctor sentenced to 27 months in prison for healthcare fraud – Georgia physician Robert Windsor was sentenced to prison for...

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- October 26, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team AT&T secretly selling customer data to the police – Investigative report reveals that the company’s program, known as Hemisphere, involves selling customer data to local authorities for use in a wide spectrum of domestic cases.  The Daily Beast SEC warns investment advisors about compliance with whistleblower rules – The agency issued a risk alert notifying investment advisors and broker-dealers that investigators will be probing...

October 24, 2016

New Jersey announced that a doctor from Middlesex County pleaded guilty to engaging in sophisticated fraud and money laundering schemes by which he hid approximately $3.6 million in income from his medical practices to evade taxes. He also pleaded guilty to using money from the schemes to pay illegal kickbacks to doctors. Dr. Manoj Patharkar, 45, of South Amboy, N.J., pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Michael A. Toto in...

October 17, 2016

Ohio-based nursing home pharmacy Omnicare, Inc. agreed to pay roughly $28 million to resolve charges of violating the False Claims Act by soliciting and receiving kickbacks from pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories in exchange for promoting the prescription drug, Depakote, for nursing home patients.  The settlement follows the May 2012 settlement under which Abbott agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve Abbott’s liability under the False Claims Act for, among other...

October 5, 2016

Louisiana accountant Christopher White was sentenced to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay roughly $2.8 million in restitution for his role in participating in and attempting to cover up a $50 million New Orleans-area Medicare fraud scheme.  According to admissions made in connection with his plea agreement, White coordinated the payment of illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters who canvassed the streets of New Orleans to collect Medicare numbers...

October 3, 2016

Major hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corporation and two of its Atlanta-area subsidiaries, Atlanta Medical Center Inc. and North Fulton Medical Center Inc., agreed to pay over $513 million to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback statute through illegal kickbacks it paid in exchange for patient referrals.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Ralph Williams under the qui tam provisions of the federal and...

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Omnicare, Inc.

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Omnicare, Inc.  On Monday, the Ohio-based nursing home pharmacy, the largest in the country, agreed to pay roughly $28 million to resolve charges of violating the False Claims Act by soliciting and receiving kickbacks from pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories in exchange for promoting the prescription drug, Depakote, for nursing home patients.  CVS Health...

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- October 19, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Former OSHA investigator says government failed to investigate Wells Fargo whistleblower complaints – Darrell Whitman, a former investigator for the agency’s Whistleblower Protection Program, has alleged that two Wells Fargo employees filed complaints with OSHA in 2010 regarding the bank’s phony bank account scheme but the government failed to investigate.  NBC Bay Area Over 80% of Medicare funds payed to chiropractors were for unnecessary...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — October 17, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Omnicare to Pay over $28 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations – The nation’s largest nursing home pharmacy was alleged to have solicited and received kickbacks from pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories in exchange for promoting the prescription drug, Depakote, for nursing home patients.  The case, originally filed as qui tam actions by former Abbott employees, previously resulted in settlements with Abbott and PharMerica.  DOJ  Individual...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — September 26, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Whistle-Blower Suit Accuses Visiting Nurse Service of Fraud – The lawsuit, brought under federal and state False Claims Acts by a senior manager who worked at the agency for 16 years, charges that the Visiting Nurse Service of New York has systematically extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid through falsified and improper billings, while shortchanging needy patients of the care...