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Whistleblower Rewards

This archive displays posts tagged as including whistleblower rewards. You may also be interested in the following pages:

Page 90 of 102

October 19, 2015

Millennium Health (formerly Millennium Laboratories) agreed to pay $256 million to the federal and state governments to resolve charges it billed Medicare for medically unnecessary urine drug and genetic testing.  According to the government, Millennium caused physicians to order excessive numbers of urine drug tests, in part through the promotion of “custom profiles,” which instead of being tailored to individual patients were in effect standing orders that caused physicians to order large number of tests without an individualized assessment of each patient’s needs.  The government further alleged that Millennium’s provision of free point of care urine drug test cups to physicians — expressly conditioned on the physicians’ agreement to return the urine specimens to Millennium for hundreds of dollars’ worth of additional testing — violated the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute.  The case originated from several whistleblower lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Whistleblowers in the underlying cases will receive awards totalling roughly $32 million.  DOJ GA , FL, WA

October 16, 2015

South Carolina-based Tuomey Healthcare System agreed to pay $72.4 million to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for services referred by physicians with whom the hospital had improper financial relationships.  Under the settlement, Tuomey also will be sold to Palmetto Health, a multi-hospital healthcare system based in Columbia, South Carolina.  According to the government, Tuomey violated the Stark law by entering into contracts with 19 specialist physicians that required them to refer their outpatient procedures to Tuomey in exchange for compensation that far exceeded fair market value and included part of the money Tuomey received from Medicare for the referred procedures.  The settlement follows a jury trial where the court entered judgement against Tuomey for more than $237 million.  The case arose from a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Dr. Michael K. Drakeford, an orthopedic surgeon who was offered, but refused to sign, one of the illegal contracts.  Dr. Drakeford will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $18.1 million from the settlement.  Whistleblower Insider

October 14, 2015

Chicago-based aerospace and defense industry giant Boeing Company agreed to pay $18 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for labor charges on maintenance contracts with the US Air Force.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Boeing employee James Thomas Webb under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  He will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $3 million from the government’s recovery.  Whistleblower Insider

October 9, 2015

Cincinnati-based West Chester Hospital and its parent company, UC Health, agreed to pay $4.1 million to settle allegations that West Chester Hospital violated the False Claims Act by billing federal health care programs for medically unnecessary spine surgeries.  The challenged surgeries were performed between 2009 and 2013 by Dr. Abubakar Atiq Durrani, a surgeon from Mason, Ohio, who had admitting privileges at West Chester Hospital and who was arrested in July 2013 but allegedly fled the country and remains a fugitive.  The allegations first arose in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former patients of Durrani under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  They will receive a whistleblower award of approximately $800,000 from the federal share of the settlement.  DOJ

October 7, 2015

Kentucky-based nursing home pharmacy PharMerica Corp. agreed to pay $9.25 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by soliciting and receiving kickbacks from pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories in exchange for promoting the anti-epileptic prescription drug Depakote for nursing home patients.  The settlement is part of the continuing fallout of the $1.5 billion settlement Abbott entered into with the government in May 2012 to resolve Abbott’s liability under the False Claims Act for alleged kickbacks to nursing home pharmacies, including PharMerica.  The settlement partially resolves allegations raised in two whistleblower lawsuits brought by former Abbott employees Richard Spetter and Meredith McCoyd under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Ms. McCoyd will receive a whistleblower award of $1 million from the federal share of the settlement amount. Whistleblower Insider

October 7, 2015

Phoenix-based Serenity Hospice and Palliative Care agreed to pay $2.2 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false bills to Medicare for hospice services.  In addition, Ruth Siegel, a former nurse and the founder and former president of Serenity, agreed to be excluded from Medicare, Medicaid, and all other federal health care programs for five years.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Cheryl Sifford under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  She will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the government’s recovery.  DOJ (AZ)

October 2, 2015

Guardian Hospice of Georgia LLC, Guardian Home Care Holdings Inc.and AccentCare Inc. agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations they knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare for hospice patients who were not terminally ill.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Guardian employees Rose Betts and Jennifer Williams under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Ms. Betts and Ms. Williams will receive a whistleblower award of approximately $510,000.  DOJ

October 1, 2015

Nurses’ Registry and Home Health Corporation and the Estate of its former owner, the deceased Lennie House, agreed to pay $16 million to resolve allegations that Nurses’ Registry, at the direction of Lennie House, violated the False Claims Act by fraudulently billing Medicare for medically unnecessary home health services and for services tainted by kickbacks provided by the company and House to local physicians and others who referred patients to Nurses’ Registry.  According to the government, Nurses’ Registry falsified medical records to make it appear as if patients had a medical need for skilled nursing or therapy services, or appear as if the patients were homebound.  In addition to billing Medicare for unnecessary or non-reimbursable home health services, Nurses’ Registry and House provided tickets to athletic events and concerts, and provided other things of value, to doctors and referral sources in order to induce or reward patient referrals.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former employees Alisia Robinson-Hill and David Price under thequi tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  They will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the settlement proceeds.  DOJ (KY)

October 1, 2015

Strata Pathology Laboratory, Inc. (known as StrataDx) agreed to pay $558,793 to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by inducing physicians to refer Medicare and Medicaid patients to Strata by paying kickbacks in the form of sham consulting fees and providing unlawful discounts to physicians.  According to the settlement agreement, Strata acknowledged paying consulting fees to two referring physician practices that did not provide consulting services in exchange.  Strata also acknowledged entering into “account billing” arrangements with seven referring physician practices that facilitated fee-splitting between the parties.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former Strata employee under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The whistleblower will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from a portion of the government’s recovery.  DOJ (MA)

September 28, 2015

L-3 Communications Corporation and its affiliated entities Vertex Aerospace LLC and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP agreed to pay $4.63 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by inflating labor hours for time spent by independent contractors at the military’s Continental US Replacement Centers (CRCs) in Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Bliss, Texas.  According to the government, L-3 knowingly overcharged the government for time their independent contractors spent at the CRCs by billing for each individual not based on the actual time that individual spent at the CRC, but based instead on the earliest arrival or latest departure time of any other individual who also processed through the center that same day.  The allegations first arose in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former L-3 independent contractor Robert A. Martin under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Mr. Martin will receive a whistleblower award of $798,675.  Whistleblower Insider
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