Healthcare Fraud
This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to healthcare fraud.
You may also be interested in the following pages:
Catch of the Week – Inform Diagnostics
Posted 02/1/19
January 29, 2019
Two doctors and a health clinic owner in the Houston area have each been sentenced to decades in prison following their convictions for Medicare fraud. In one case involving three defendants—clinic owner Ann Shepherd, doctor John Ramirez, and Yvette Nwoko—Medicare paid over $17 million in fraudulent claims resulting from false certifications related to services not medically necessary or properly provided. Defendants Shepherd was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and ordered to pay $20 million; Ramirez was sentenced to 25 years in priosn and ordered to pay $26 million; Nwoko awaits sentencing. In a second case, related case, doctor Anh Do was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay almost $2 million in restitution on similar charges. DOJ 1; DOJ 2January 29, 2019
Tennessee-based home dialysis provider WellBound of Memphis agreed to pay $3,246,000 to the State of Tennessee and the United States for allegedly submitting false claims to Medicare, TRICARE, and Tenncare from 2016 to 2018. According to a qui tam complaint filed by whistleblower Dr. Darryl Quarles, the claims resulted from illegal inducements for patient referrals, which violated the anti-kickback statute (AKS) and are not payable under state or federal laws. USAO WDTNJanuary 28, 2019
Avanti Hospitals LLC and six of its owners will pay $8.1 million to settle claims that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting, or causing Avanti’s subsidiary, Memorial Hospital of Gardena, to submit false claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs for medical services referred by a physician who received kickbacks and other improper payments from Gardena and other Avanti affiliates. The settlement partially resolves allegations originally brought in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Dr. Joshua Luke, the former C.E.O. of Gardena Hospital. DOJJanuary 28, 2019
Ademola O. Adebayo, of Odessa, FL, was convicted for his role in a massive compounding pharmacy fraud scheme through which he submitted false and fraudulent claims for compounded drugs and other prescription medications that were not medically necessary, never provided, or both. The evidence established that in his role as the pharmacist at A to Z Pharmacy, now-defunct, Adebayo conspired to submit or cause the submission of claims that often amounted to several thousands of dollars for a single tube of pain or scar cream. When the fraud was uncovered, Adebayo became the straw owner of Havana Pharmacy & Discount in Miami, where Adebayo and his co-conspirators continued the fraud. Adebayo personally benefited from the fraud and received $1.5 million. DOJJanuary 28, 2019
Norma Zayas, of Miami, was sentenced to 51 months in prison for her role in a $4.66 million health care fraud scheme involving several Miami-area home health agencies, including Sunshine Home Health Services Inc., Empire Home Health Agency Inc., Mildred & Marce Home Health Care Services Inc., and Nursing Care PRN Inc., which purported to provide home health services to Medicare patients. Zayas must also pay $4,658,241.00 in restitution and forfeit $186,650.50. Zayas admitted that from approximately January 2010 through approximately January 2014, she operated Sunshine, Empire, and Mildred & Marce Home Health and paid kickbacks to patient recruiters in return for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries, many of whom did not need or qualify for home health services. She also paid kickbacks to patient recruiters who referred Medicare beneficiaries to Nursing Care PRN. As a result of false and fraudulent claims submitted as part of this conspiracy, Medicare made payments of nearly $4.66 million. DOJJanuary 28, 2019
East Cost Stepping Stones, Inc., a behavioral services provider based in Jacksonville, Florida, has agreed to pay $360,000 to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act. The company was alleged to have falsely billed TRICARE for applied behavioral analysis therapy services for children with autism by misrepresenting the services provided and who provided them, failing to document services as required, and fabricating and altering medical records. USAO MDFLJanuary 28, 2019
A skilled nursing facility based in Orlando, Florida, Conway Lakes NC, LLC, and related entities and physicians, have agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve allegations that they engaged in a unlawful kickback and referral scheme for Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries. Conway Lakes was alleged to have contracted with orthopedic surgeon Kenneth Krumins under a sham “medical director” arrangement in violation of the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute to induce him to refer patients for rehabilitation services. A former employee of Conway Lakes, Jonathan Montes de Oca, reported the arrangement by filing a qui tam case under the False Claims Act and will receive $267,000 of the proceeds. USAO MDFLTop Ten Federal False Claims Act Recoveries of 2018
Posted 01/28/19
