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This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to Medicare and fraud in the Medicare program. You may also be interested in our pages:

Page 24 of 55

April 1, 2020

A physician’s assistant in Louisiana, Stephen Honeycutt, has agreed to pay $620,500 for accepting illegal kickbacks from OK Compounding, LLC, which has been involved in multiple enforcement actions of a similar nature across the country.  Over a period of about six months in 2013, Honeycutt prescribed expensive compounded pain creams to patients, many of whom were Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries, in exchange for kickbacks disguised as medical director fees.  USAO NDOK

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Pharma Fraud,

March 20, 2020

A doctor in Florida has paid the United States $850,000 to settle claims of violating the Anti-Kickback and False Claims Acts.  In exchange for prescribing a powerful but highly addictive fentanyl spray, Subsys, to her patients, Dr. Parveen Khanna allegedly took illegal kickbacks from manufacturer Insys Pharmaceuticals, Inc that were disguised as speaker fees, then submitted claims for reimbursement to Medicare and TRICARE in violation of program rules prohibiting payment for kickback-induced services.  USAO MDFL

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Pharma Fraud,

March 13, 2020

Dr. Thi Thien Nguyen Tran and Village Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery, LLC, have agreed to pay $1.74 million to settle claims of submitting false and inflated claims to Medicare.  From 2011 to 2016, defendants billed and caused Medicare to pay for lower-level wound repairs as if they were more complex adjacent tissue transfers.  The misconduct was eventually exposed by whistleblowers Dr. Robert Green and Emily Kennedy, who will share in a $305,000 award.  USAO MDFL

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

March 11, 2020

Millennium Physicians Association PLLC, d/b/a Millennium Respiratory & Sleep Disorder Specialists, has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve whistleblower-brought allegations of fraud in connection with two sleep centers in Texas.  From 2015 to 2019, Millennium allegedly violated Medicare rules and the False Claims Act by improperly billing Medicare for sleep studies conducted without the presence of properly credentialed technicians.  As part of the settlement, the anonymous relator will receive a $187,344  share of the settlement.  USAO SDTX

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Medicare, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

“Objective Falsity” Is Not Required Under the False Claims Act: A Legally False Opinion May Suffice

Posted  03/6/20
Gavel close-up
In a significant win for whistleblowers, a federal appellate court held this week that, in order to determine liability under the False Claims Act, a whistleblower need not prove that a claim is “objectively” false.  Instead, the Court held that, consistent with common law, a claim can be false under the FCA if based not on objectively verifiable facts, but on non-compliance with statutory or regulatory...

Tagged in: Court Decision, FCA Federal, Home Health and Hospice, Importance of Whistleblowers, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Eligibility,

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March 4, 2020

STG Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. and senior executives Paschal Gilley and Mathew Gilley have agreed to resolve fraud allegations by paying $1.75 million.  The case against the hospice was launched by two former employees, Serita Samuel and Miranda Eskridge, who alleged in a qui tam suit that STG Healthcare submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid that arose from illegal payments to so-called back-up medical directors, and that were on behalf of patients who were not terminally ill and thus ineligible for palliative care.  GA AG; USAO NDGA

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Home Health and Hospice, Medicaid, Medicare, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

March 2, 2020

The owners and operators of Middlesex Rheumatology in Connecticut, Dr. Crispin Abarientos and his wife Dr. Antonieta Abarientos, have agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle allegations of violating federal and state False Claims Act.  Between 2013 to 2017, the Abarientos allegedly billed Medicaid for an injectable prescription drug called Remicade, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but then failed to administer the drugs on Medicaid patients.  Instead, they administered them on patients covered by Medicare or the Connecticut State Employees Health Plan, then billed the two providers for the drugs again even though the cost had already been covered by Medicaid.  USAO CT

Tagged in: Criminal Proceedings, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Provider Fraud,

February 28, 2020

Nursing home chain Diversicare Health Services, Inc. has agreed to pay $9.5 million to resolve whistleblower-brought allegations of submitting claims to Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary rehabilitation therapy services.  According to separate qui tam complaints by former employees, Mary Haggard and Bryant Fitzmorris, between 2010 to 2015, Diversicare unnecessarily placed beneficiaries in the highest category of reimbursement in order to receive higher payouts, and submitted forged pre-admission evaluation certifications to Medicaid.  As part of the settlement, Diversicare has entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement for five years, Haggard will receive approximately $1.4 million, and Fitzmorris will receive approximately $145,450.  DOJ; USAO MDTN

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medicare, SNF, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

February 28, 2020

Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC has agreed to pay $11.85 million to resolve allegations of paying kickbacks to Medicare patients in connection with a multiple sclerosis drug called Lemtrada.  According to the press release, Lemtrada costs nearly $100,000 per patient per year, and Medicare co-pays can be many thousands of dollars per year.  In order to break down barriers to access for Medicare patients, Sanofi allegedly provided kickbacks to them via payments to a purportedly independent charitable foundation, The Assistance Fund (TAF), which helps covers the co-pays in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.  The scheme was reported by a partnership formed by Sanofi's predecessor, Genzyme Corporation, which will receive about $2.7 million for their role in the case.  USAO MA

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicare, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

February 26, 2020

The two owners and operators of Royal Care Pharmacy in Los Angeles have been ordered to pay restitution of $11.8 million to Medicare and $17,000 to Cigna after being found guilty of healthcare fraud and money laundering.  Aleksandr Suri and Maxim Sverdlov were also sentenced to 12 years in prison.  From 2012 to 2015, the two had fraudulently billed Medicare and Cigna for prescription medications that were not purchased or dispensed to beneficiaries, hiding the conspiracy and laundering the proceeds through fake invoices.  DOJ

Tagged in: Criminal Proceedings, Healthcare Fraud, Medicare, Pharma Fraud,

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