Contact

Click here for a confidential contact or call:

1-212-350-2774

Other Government Health Programs

This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to government healthcare programs other than Medicare and Medicaid, and fraud in those programs. You may also be interested in our pages:

Page 11 of 18

February 22, 2019

Marketers, doctors, lawyers, and medical service provider defendants were sentenced this week for their roles in a multi-million dollar California worker's compensation fraud scheme in the San Diego area.  The defendants recruited patients and referred them to co-defendant attorneys to file fraudulent claims on their behalf and medical providers who performed often unnecessary and painful medical procedures for which they would then bill insurers including California Workers' Compensation.  Ronald Grusd, a doctor who owned a diagnostic imaging company, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $1.3 million.  Fermin Iglesias, who worked as a patient capper, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $1 million. Julian Garcia, who provided services to assist the referrals and kickbacks, was sentenced to three years in prison.  Jennifer Louise White, who marketed to providers in the network, was sentenced to two years in prison.  Sean O'Keefe, an attorney who filed fraudulent claims on behalf of patients, was sentenced to 13 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $300,000.  Steven Rigler, a chiropractor, was sentenced to six months in prison.  USAO SD Cal.

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Criminal Proceedings, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Other Government Health Programs, Provider Fraud,

Ohio Seeks to Recover Overcharges from OptumRx

Posted  02/21/19
Office building with logo for Optum
After a 2018 investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) of its prescription drug spending, the BWC pharmacy program manager, John Hanna, concluded that "we were being hosed."  The BWC had contracted with OptumRx to act as a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM).  PBMs act as middlemen between drugmakers, pharmacies, and payors such as worker's compensation programs, Medicaid, Medicare, and other...

Tagged in: FCA State, Medicaid, Other Government Health Programs, Pharma Fraud,

Read More

February 20, 2019

Hope Thomley of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, pleaded guilty for her role in a compounding pharmacy kickback scheme.  Thomley was the owner and operator of acompany that marketed for Advantage Pharmacy in Hattiesburg, and received 50% of Advantage's reimbursements.  Thomley admitted that she knew Advantage submitted false claims for payment to federal healthcare programs for medications that had not been prescribed by a doctor or were not medically necessary.  Between 2012 and 2016, health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, reimbursed Advantage Pharmacy and other pharmacies involved in the scheme at least $200 million. DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Other Government Health Programs, Pharma Fraud,

February 8, 2019

Two executives from the South Carolina Early Autism Project (SCEAP) have been convicted of causing false statements to be submitted to Medicare and TRICARE and causing them to be overcharged by millions of dollars. According to statements by SCEAP employees, co-founder Ann Davis Eldridge and executive Angela Breitweiser Keith instructed employees to include travel and wait time in their billing in order to inflate time spent providing services. To further incentivize this practice, they implemented billing goals that had to be met in order to qualify for bonuses such as gift cards and vacations, all paid for by the company. Since then SCEAP has repaid almost $9 million, and as part of their plea agreement, both Keith and Eldridge will serve 1-year sentences. USAO SC

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Provider Fraud,

February 8, 2019

A Texas-based marketing company, One Source Healthcare Organization, and its owner, James Paul Adams, have agreed to pay $339,412.50 to resolve allegations that it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute in accepting illegal payments from a compounding pharmacy to market their drug. Because the payments resulted in false claims being paid by Medicare and TRICARE, they were also alleged to be in violation of the federal False Claims Act. Two men affiliated with the compounding pharmacy, Oklahoma-based OK Compounding, LLC, were previously indicted on similar charges. USAO NDOK

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

February 7, 2019

A former bus driver with the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for defrauding the authority's health benefit plan of $2.8 million. Enver Kalaba, who was recruited into the scheme by former bus driver Christopher Frusci, worked on behalf of an unnamed company to pay bribes to fellow MTA employees in exchange for medically unnecessary prescription compounded medications. For each prescription for medications such as pain creams, scar creams, and metabolic supplements, Kalaba and Frusci paid $100. As part of his sentence, Kalaba must now forfeit $138,630 in fraudulent earnings and pay $2.9 million in restitution. Frusci is scheduled to be sentenced next month. USAO NJ

Tagged in: Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, Criminal Proceedings, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Other Government Health Programs,

February 6, 2019

Abbott Labs has agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle allegations of paying kickbacks to healthcare professionals in exchange for promotion of its drug, and inappropriately marketing its drug, TriCor, for cardiovascular events not approved by the FDA. The case was initiated by the State of North Carolina and joined by California, Illinois, Nevada, Maryland, Michigan, and Texas, as well as the federal government. NC AG

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Off-Label and Unapproved Use, Other Government Health Programs, Pharma Fraud,

January 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 WDTN

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

January 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. DOJ

Tagged in: Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs,

Sharp HealthCare - Healthcare Fraud/Kickbacks (Undisclosed)

Constantine Cannon represented a whistleblower in a False Claims Act case alleging Sharp HealthCare Center for Research, Sharp’s clinical-trial research arm, paid kickbacks to entice prospective trial sponsors to host clinical trials at Sharp.  In November 2019, the company agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to settle the matter.  Our client received a whistleblower award of an undisclosed portion of the government's recovery.  Read more -- CC.

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Hospital Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Pharma Fraud, Private Insurance Whistleblower Reward Programs, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Rewards,

1 … 9 10 11 12 13 … 18

Newsletter

Subscribe to receive email updates from the Constantine Cannon blogs

Sign up for: