Medical Devices and DME Archives

Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme

Posted 08/20/21

Doctor on computer with patient discussing medicine

Underscoring the fraud risks associated with the government’s continued expansion and loosening of restrictions on telehealth, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that a grand jury in New Jersey has returned a superseding indictment against the Florida owner of multiple telemedicine companies, referred to by DOJ prosecutors as the Video Doctor Network, for allegedly participating in a massive Medicare...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, COVID-19, FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Money Laundering, Whistleblower Rewards,

Catch of the Week: Waived Copayments and “Free” Glucometers Result in $160 Million Recovery in Whistleblower Action Against Previously-Barred Arriva Medical

Posted 08/4/21

Woman using glucometer and diabetes testing strips

Mail-order diabetes supply company Arriva Medical has agreed to pay $160 million to resolve a False Claims Act case filed in 2013 by a whistleblower who worked for ten months in one of the company’s call centers. The government intervened in the whistleblower’s action in early 2019, and the case had been set for trial in June 2022. The settlement is the latest in a long string of actions against Arriva and...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Catch of the Week, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

August 2, 2021

Diabetic testing supply company Arriva Medical LLC and its parent company Alere Inc. will pay $160 million to resolve claims first brought in a whistleblower case alleging that Arriva provided unlawful patient inducements in the form of “free” or “no cost” glucometers and copayment waivers. Defendants were alleged to have systematically provided all new patients with glucometers, and billed Medicare for those meters, although Medicare beneficiaries are only eligible for a new meter once every five years. In addition, Arriva was alleged to have billed Medicare for deceased beneficiaries. The whistleblower, Gregory Goodman, who was an employee at an Arriva call center, will receive a whistleblower award of $28.5 million. Executives at Arriva previously agreed to a settlement of claims against them. DOJ; USAO MD Tenn

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

Catch of the Week: Medical Device Companies to Pay $38.75M Over Defective Coagulation Monitor Allegations Linked to Patient Deaths, Injuries

Posted 07/9/21

Medical device manufacturers Alere Inc. and Alere San Diego Inc. will pay nearly $40 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly sold defective blood coagulation monitors used by Medicare beneficiaries and falsely billed Medicare for the devices. The monitors are supposed to ensure that patients taking anticoagulant drugs receive a safe dosage to avoid life-threatening consequences from too much or too little...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare,

July 8, 2021

Alere Inc. and Alere San Diego Inc. have agreed to pay nearly $39 million to settle allegations of knowingly selling defective blood coagulation monitors, which are used to determine safe dosages of anticoagulant drugs, to Medicare beneficiaries. Too much anticoagulant could result in massive bleeding, while too little can result in blood clots and strokes. By 2008, Alere had allegedly become aware of the fact that the software used in its INRatio monitors contained a material defect that caused some patients to see inaccurate results. Although the company was also aware of dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries associated with the devices, it failed to take them off the market and even continued to bill Medicare for them, in violation of the False Claims Act, until the FDA requested a Class I recall in 2016. USAO NJ

Tagged in: Defective Products, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare,

June 11, 2021

Two integrative chiropractic practices in Pennsylvania and their chiropractor owners have agreed to pay over $800,000 to resolve liability under the False Claims Act in connection with an electro-acupuncture device. The settling parties are Discover Optimal Healthcare, affiliate Weigner Healthcare Management Group, LLC, and owner Jason Weigner (collectively, “Weigner”), and Yucha Medical Pain Management & Chiropractic Rehabilitation, LLC, and owners Randolph Yucha and Rodney Gabel. Between 2016 and 2017, the parties allegedly billed Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program for the surgical implantation of neuro-stimulators, even though the devices involved—ANSiStim—are not reimbursable and can be applied with adhesives. USAO EDPA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Provider Fraud,

June 10, 2021

Three Texas-based healthcare providers who allegedly billed Medicare for non-reimbursable procedures involving electro-acupuncture devices have agreed to pay over $1 million in settle their liability under the False Claims Act. For up to two years, each of the providers—Ledger Foot & Ankle, P.A., SPR Medical Group d/b/a Superior Physical Medicine, and Precision Spine and Pain Management—allegedly billed the application of two pain management devices, ANSiStim and STIVAX, as though they were implantable neurostimulators, when in fact their application was non-surgical and non-invasive. Following a Medicare audit, Superior and Precision self-disclosed improperly billed claims and initiated refund payments to Medicare. USAO WDTX

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Provider Fraud,

June 8, 2021

The chiropractor owner and operator of Texas-based Campbell Medical Group PLLC and Johnson Medical Group PLLC d/b/a Campbell Medical Clinic has agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle claims that she and the entities defrauded Medicare and TRICARE. As part of the settlement, Suhyun An and her medical entities will be excluded from participating in federal healthcare programs for ten years. Ms. An and the medical entities allegedly improperly obtained over $3.9 million in reimbursement for unbillable implantations of neurostimulator electrodes. USAO SDTX

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs,

May 25, 2021

Upper Allegheny Health System (UAHS), which operates dental clinics in New York and Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay $2.7 million to resolve whistleblower-brought allegations of submitting false claims to Medicaid in violation of the federal and New York False Claims Acts. Between 2010 and 2015, UAHS had billed Medicaid for dental services performed using improperly sterilized handpieces, which are considered semi-critical devices and need to be properly heat sterilized between patients. AG NY; USAO WDNY; USAO WDPA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Devices and DME, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

May 19, 2021

In one of the first settlements to resolve allegations under both the False Claims Act and the Open Payments Program (formerly the “Sunshine Act”), French medical device manufacturer Medicrea International and its American affiliate, Medicrea USA Inc., have agreed to pay $2 million to resolve whistleblower Dory Frain’s allegations that the companies violated the Anti-Kickback Statute while entertaining U.S.-based physicians at a conference in France in 2013. The settlement also resolves allegations that the companies violated the Open Payments Program by failing to report those expenses to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. USAO EDPA; CA AG; FL AG

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Whistleblower Case,

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