Whistleblower Rewards

April 28, 2017

New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics Inc. agreed to pay $6 million to resolve charges that Berkeley HeartLab Inc., which Quest acquired in 2011, violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to physicians and patients to induce the use of Berkeley for blood testing services and by charging for medically unnecessary tests. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Dr. Michael Mayes. He will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ

April 25, 2017

Braden Partners, L.P. (d/b/a Pacific Pulmonary Services) agreed to pay $11.4 million to resolve allegations against it and its general partner, Teijin Pharma USA LLC, for violating the False Claims Act by submitting claims for reimbursement to Medicare and other federal healthcare programs for oxygen and related equipment supplied in violation of program rules, and for sleep therapy equipment supplied as part of a cross-referral kickback scheme with sleep clinics. According to the government, Pacific Pulmonary submitted claims to the Medicare, TRICARE and Federal Employee Health Benefits programs for home oxygen and oxygen equipment without obtaining the required physician authorization. The government further charged that certain of the company’s patient care coordinators agreed to make patient referrals to sleep testing clinics in exchange for those clinics’ agreement to refer patients to Pacific Pulmonary for sleep therapy equipment in violation of the Anti-Kickback Act. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Manuel Alcaine, a former sales representative of Pacific Pulmonary. Mr. Alcaine will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $1.8 million from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ

April 24, 2017

Georgia-based Energy & Process Corporation agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act by failing to perform required quality assurance procedures and for supplying defective steel reinforcing bars in connection with a contract to construct a Department of Energy nuclear waste treatment facility. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Deborah Cook, a former employee of the prime contractor that subcontracted with E&P in the course of building the DOE facility. She will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ

April 24, 2017

Crittenton Hospital Medical Center and the Crittenton Cancer Center, together with their current owners Ascension Michigan and Ascension Health agreed to pay roughly $790,000 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by billing for medically unnecessary laboratory testing for patients who had been referred to Crittenton by Dr. Farid Fata and physicians in his office. In an earlier unrelated criminal matter, Fata pleaded guilty to health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, and promotional money laundering, and was sentenced to a term of 45 years in prison. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by an office administrator in Fata’s medical practice, Michigan Hematology-Oncology P.C. The whistleblower will receive a whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ (EDMI)

April 20, 2017

Dr. Norman A. Brooks, a dermatologist and surgeon and owner of Skin Cancer Medical Center in Encino, agreed to pay roughly $2.7 million to resolve allegations he submitted bills to Medicare for Mohs micrographic surgeries for skin cancers that were medically unnecessary. The government alleged that Brooks falsely diagnosed skin cancer in some of his patients so that he could perform, and bill for, Mohs surgeries. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit by former employee Janet Burke. She will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $483,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ (CDCA)

April 19, 2017

Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. was sentenced to pay a $40 million penalty related to illegal dumping of oil contaminated waste and falsification of official logs in order to conceal the discharges.  It was the largest-ever penalty for crimes involving deliberate vessel pollution.  The court also ordered that a $1 million whistleblower reward be awarded to the British engineer who first reported the illegal discharges to the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which in turn provided the evidence to the U.S. Coast Guard. DOJ

April 18, 2017

International Tutoring Services, LLC (d/b/a Hospice Plus; Goodwin Hospice, LLC; Phoenix Hospice, LP; Hospice Plus, L.P.; and Curo Health Services, LLC) agreed to pay $12.21 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals. The alleged kickbacks took the form of cash, gift cards, sham loans, a free equity interest in another entity, stock dividends, and free rental space. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The whistleblowers will receive a whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ (NDTX)