FCA Federal

May 2, 2017

North Carolina-based Piedmont Pathology agreed to pay $601,000 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary procedures. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by former Piedmont pathologist Dr. Kim Geisinger. She will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $120,000. DOJ (WDNC)

May 1, 2017

Texas-based importer Import Merchandising Concepts L.P. agreed to pay $275,000 to resolve allegations it improperly evaded customs duties on imports of wooden bedroom furniture from China by misclassifying the furniture as non-bedroom furniture, which is not subject to any antidumping duties. DOJ

May 1, 2017

Kansas City area chiropractor Brian Schnitta and his clinic, Natural Way Chiropractic Center, agreed to pay roughly $1 million to settle allegations they violated the False Claims Act by charging Medicare for treatments for peripheral neuropathy not medically necessary or not otherwise covered by the program. DOJ (DKS)

May 1, 2017

Memphis-based Poplar Healthcare PLLC and Poplar Healthcare Management, LLC agreed to pay $897,640 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by billing the government directly and through a subsidiary known as GI Pathology for diagnostic tests not medically necessary. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by former Poplar pathologist Gordon Wang. He will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $206,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ (DRI)

April 28, 2017

New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics Inc. agreed to pay $6 million to resolve charges that Berkeley HeartLab Inc., which Quest acquired in 2011, violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to physicians and patients to induce the use of Berkeley for blood testing services and by charging for medically unnecessary tests. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Dr. Michael Mayes. He will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ

April 27, 2017

Forrest S. Kuhn, Jr., M.D., a Kentucky physician specializing in allergy, asthma and immunology, agreed to pay roughly $750,000 to resolve allegations he violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other government health care programs for allergy tests never performed. DOJ (WDKY)

April 25, 2017

Braden Partners, L.P. (d/b/a Pacific Pulmonary Services) agreed to pay $11.4 million to resolve allegations against it and its general partner, Teijin Pharma USA LLC, for violating the False Claims Act by submitting claims for reimbursement to Medicare and other federal healthcare programs for oxygen and related equipment supplied in violation of program rules, and for sleep therapy equipment supplied as part of a cross-referral kickback scheme with sleep clinics. According to the government, Pacific Pulmonary submitted claims to the Medicare, TRICARE and Federal Employee Health Benefits programs for home oxygen and oxygen equipment without obtaining the required physician authorization. The government further charged that certain of the company’s patient care coordinators agreed to make patient referrals to sleep testing clinics in exchange for those clinics’ agreement to refer patients to Pacific Pulmonary for sleep therapy equipment in violation of the Anti-Kickback Act. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Manuel Alcaine, a former sales representative of Pacific Pulmonary. Mr. Alcaine will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $1.8 million from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ

April 24, 2017

Georgia-based Energy & Process Corporation agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act by failing to perform required quality assurance procedures and for supplying defective steel reinforcing bars in connection with a contract to construct a Department of Energy nuclear waste treatment facility. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Deborah Cook, a former employee of the prime contractor that subcontracted with E&P in the course of building the DOE facility. She will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ

April 24, 2017

Crittenton Hospital Medical Center and the Crittenton Cancer Center, together with their current owners Ascension Michigan and Ascension Health agreed to pay roughly $790,000 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by billing for medically unnecessary laboratory testing for patients who had been referred to Crittenton by Dr. Farid Fata and physicians in his office. In an earlier unrelated criminal matter, Fata pleaded guilty to health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, and promotional money laundering, and was sentenced to a term of 45 years in prison. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by an office administrator in Fata’s medical practice, Michigan Hematology-Oncology P.C. The whistleblower will receive a whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ (EDMI)