Whistleblower Case
This archive displays posts tagged as involving a whistleblower case or claim. You may also be interested in our pages:
TriMark Settlement Highlights Fraud in Set-Aside Programs
Posted 03/1/22
February 23, 2022
TriMark USA, LLC and related entities will pay $48.5 million to resolve claims brought in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that they improperly manipulated federal contract set-asides for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) by enlisting small business to secure the contracts while TriMark actually performed all of the work and received most of the benefits of the federal contract. In addition, former TriMark executive Kimberley Rimsza has agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve claims against her. The whistleblower, Fox Unlimited Enterprises, LLP, will receive an award of $10.9 million. USAO ND NY; USAO ED WAFebruary 11, 2022
Transportation company Academy Bus, LLC, together with related entities and individuals, will pay $20.5 million to resolve claims brought in a whistleblower lawsuit under New Jersey’s False Claims Act that the defendants defrauded New Jersey Transit, for whom defendants operated bus routes. Defendants were paid by NJ Transit based, in part, on miles and hours driven, with deductions for missed bus trips; they were alleged to have over-reported miles and hours driven, and underreported their missed bus trips to the state. The settlement also required Academy to implement specific compliance procedures. The whistleblower, former Academy employee Hector Peralta, will receive an award totaling $3.9 million. NJFebruary 2, 2022
New York healthcare provider The Door - A Center for Alternatives has agreed to pay $12.9 million to resolve claims that it submitted false claims for reimbursement to New York's Indigent Care Pool, which is funded by Medicaid. The Door was required to submit annual cost reports to New York reporting figures including the number of "threshold visits" to its ambulatory diagnostic and treatment center. A qui tam case initiated by two whistleblowers alleged that defendant knowingly inflated the number of threshold visits to increase payments. SDNYJanuary 28, 2022
Hayat Pharmacy agreed to pay over $2 Million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for certain prescription medications from its 23 locations. The government alleged Hayat Pharmacy submitted false claims for two prescription medications, a topical cream consisting of iodoquinol, hydrocortisone, and aloe, and a multivitamin with the trade name Azesco. Hayat Pharmacy allegedly switched Medicaid and Medicare patients from lower cost medications to the higher cost medications without any medical need and/or without a valid prescription. As part of the settlement, Hayat Pharmacy agreed to conduct annual training concerning waste, fraud and abuse, and compliance with rules concerning medication switches. USAO WIJanuary 31, 2022
Cardinal Health agreed to pay more than $13 Million to settle allegations it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by paying “upfront discounts” to its physician practices. According to the government, Cardinal Health recruited new customers by offering and paying cash bonuses that were not attributable to identifiable sales or were purported rebates which Cardinal Health’s customers had not actually earned. In connection with the settlement, the whistleblowers who brought the case will receive approximately $2.6 million of the recovery. USAO MAJanuary 12, 2022
Six medical practices affiliated with Interventional Pain Management Center P.C. (IPMC), as well as physician-owner Dr. Amit Poonia, have agreed to pay nearly $7.5 million to resolve allegations of defrauding Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program. In a qui tam suit by Anu Doddapaneni and Christian Reyes, the whistleblowers alleged that Poonia and IPMC violated the False Claims Act by using a billing code that mischaracterized P-Stim and NeuroStim treatments—which transmit electrical pulses through needles placed just under the skin of a patient’s ear—as surgical implantation requiring anesthesia. USAO EDNYJanuary 12, 2022
A diabetic shoe company, Foot Care Store, Inc., d/b/a Dia-Foot, and its President and CEO, Robert Gaynor, have agreed to pay $5.5 million to resolve allegations of billing Medicare and Medicaid for custom diabetic shoe inserts when in fact, their inserts were made using generic foot models. The alleged misconduct occurred between 2013 and 2018 and was revealed in a whistleblower’s 2018 qui tam suit. In addition to the monetary penalty, Dia-Foot has entered into a three-year Integrity Agreement that requires the company to implement updated policies and procedures and submit to quarterly independent review of its claims to Medicare and Medicaid. USAO SDFLTop Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act Recoveries of 2021
Posted 01/7/22
