FCA Federal

June 27, 2016

Ten North Texas companies and individuals agreed to pay $1.125 million to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act for failing to comply with rules and regulations governing Medicaid transportation services.  The companies include: Irving Holdings, Inc. (together with its predecessor companies Big Tex Taxi Corporation, Terminal Taxi Corporation, Choice Cab, Inc., Yellow Checker Cab of Dallas, Inc., and Yellow Checker Cab of Fort Worth, Inc.); JetTaxi, Inc.; Dallas Taxi, LLC; US Cab, LLC; Terminal Taxi Corporation of Irving; Classic Shuttle Acquisition Corporation, Inc.; and Dallas Car Leasing, LLC.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Robert Spence, Mike Jones, and Cheryl Jones.  They were employees of Irving Holdings, one of the largest taxicab companies in the US.  They will receive a whistleblower award of $202,500 from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (EDTX)

June 13, 2016

Oklahoma-based FedCare, LLC and its related entity The Broadway Clinic of Tulsa, LLC, agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Office of Workers Compensation Programs of the Department of Labor.  According to the government, FedCare and Broadway submitted claims for medical services furnished to federal employees of fourteen federal agencies that were false because they were either (1) billed at a higher rate than allowed or (2) not performed at all.  DOJ (WDOK)

June 9, 2016

Raleigh, North Carolina-based specialty pharmacy Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which sells products used to treat various gastroenterology conditions, agreed to pay $54 million to settle charges it violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by using its “speaker programs” as a mechanism to pay kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe Salix drugs and medical devices.  Specifically, the government alleged Salix held sham speaker programs, frequently at high-end restaurants, where doctors were paid substantial honoraria purportedly to educate other doctors about a Salix product, but in reality spent little or no time discussing the product.  $16,578,000 of the settlement amount will go to the Medicaid programs of different states including Ohio.  The allegations originated in two whistleblower lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The whistleblowers will receive a yet-to-be-determined award from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (SDNY), OH

June 6, 2016

Genentech Inc. and OSI Pharmaceuticals LLC agreed to pay $67 million to resolve charges they violated federal and state False Claims Act by making misleading statements about the effectiveness of the cancer drug Tarceva.  According to the government, Genentech and OSI made misleading representations to physicians and other health care providers about the effectiveness of Tarceva when there was little evidence to show that Tarceva was effective to treat those patients unless they also (i) had never smoked or (ii) had a mutation in their epidermal growth factor receptor, which is a protein involved in the growth and spread of cancer cells.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Genentech employee Brian Shields under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  He will receive a whistleblower award of approximately $10 million out of the proceeds of the government’s recovery.  Whistleblower Insider GA, MA, OH

June 2, 2016

Aquatic Sensor Network Technology (Aquasent)and several of its officials and employees, namely Dr. Jun-Hong Cui, Dr. Yong Ma, Dr. Shengli Zhou, Dr. Zhijie Shi, and Juanjuan Liao, agreed to pay $400,000 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act in the management of federally-funded grants awarded to Aquasent by the National Science Foundation.  DOJ (DCT)

June 1, 2016

Dr. Jonathan Oppenheimer, former owner and CEO of Nashville drug testing laboratory Prost-Data, Inc. (d/b/a OURLab), OPKO Health, Inc., and OPKO Lab, have agreed to pay $9.35 million to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act by providing illegal kickbacks in exchange for business.  According to the government, Dr. Oppenheimer and OURLab made donations toward electronic health records (EHR) systems purchased by their client physician practices that fell outside the restrictions set forth in the Anti-Kickback Statute EHR safe harbor and the Stark EHR exception.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former OURLab employee under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The whistleblower will receive a whistleblower award of $1.683 million from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (MDTE)

June 1, 2016

San-Diego-based Harper Construction Company, Inc. paid $5.4 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by fraudulently billing the government for work on multiple projects on military bases through the use of sham small disadvantaged businesses.  The settlement involves four government contracts to construct facilities at Camp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune.  According to the government, Harper claimed it met the contract requirement that it subcontract a certain percentage of work to small disadvantaged businesses when in fact it subcontracted with sham small disadvantaged businesses.  Also, Harper allegedly required the sham small businesses to pass through all of their work to an affiliated large business, Frazier Masonry Corporation.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Rickey Howard, a former employee of Harper subcontractor Frazier Masonry Corporation, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Mr. Howard will receive a whistleblower award of $1,485,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (SDCA)

May 31, 2016

Deloitte Consulting agreed to pay $11.38 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that it submitted false claims under a General Services Administration contract.  In 2000, GSA awarded Deloitte a contract for the provision of information technology services.  According to the government, Deloitte failed to comply with price reduction clauses in the contract which required Deloitte to reduce the prices it charged the government if it offered lower prices to specific commercial customers and which resulted in the government paying more for Deloitte’s services than comparable commercial customers.  DOJ