This archive includes posts from our “Catch of the Week” series, in which the Whistleblower Insider blog highlights particular government enforcement actions. Return to:
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Evercare Hospice and Palliative Care. On Wednesday, the Minnesota-based provider of hospice care agreed to pay $18 million to resolve charges it violated the False Claims Act by claiming Medicare reimbursement for hospice care for patients not eligible for such care because they were not terminally ill. The government trumpeted the settlement as...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Volkswagen AG. On Tuesday, the beleaguered German auto-maker and related entities agreed to spend up to $14.7 billion in two related settlements to settle charges of cheating emissions tests and deceiving customers. One settlement is with the United States and the State of California and the other is with the...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to the 301 medical professionals that were the target of Wednesday's government healthcare fraud takedown involving roughly $900 million in alleged fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billings. The "unprecedented nationwide sweep" was led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force and included the Medicaid Fraud Control Units of...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Genentech Inc. and OSI Pharmaceuticals LLC. On Monday, the San Francisco and New York-based pharmaceutical companies agreed to pay $67 million to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act by making misleading statements about the effectiveness of the drug Tarceva, which is approved to treat certain patients...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Prime Healthcare Services. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced its decision to intervene in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act against Prime, its founder and CEO Dr. Prem Reddy, and 14 Prime hospitals in California. The government alleges that at Dr. Reddy's direction, these...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Mountain States Contractors, an affiliated company of Jones Brothers. On Monday, the construction company has agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for payment in connection with the Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Buffalo, New York-based M&T Bank Corp. Today, the bank agreed to pay $64 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Menlo Worldwide Services and Estes Forwarding Worldwide. On Tuesday, the freight forwarding companies agreed to collectively pay $13 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by overcharging the government in various ways under the Defense Transportation Coordination Initiative...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to the pharmaceutical giants Wyeth and Pfizer, Inc. On Wednesday, the companies agreed to pay $784.6 million to resolve allegations that Wyeth violated the False Claims Act by reporting to the government false prices on two of its proton pump inhibitor (PPI) drugs, Protonix Oral and Protonix IV. These drugs are...
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Maryland-based Bon Secours Health System and one of its surgical oncologists, Dr. Eugene Chang. On Monday, they agreed to pay $400,000 to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act by billing Medicare and other federal healthcare programs for non-covered breast examinations and ultrasounds. See DOJ Press...