Whistleblower News From The Inside — November 23, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Doctor compensation likely to be issue in more FCA suits — Recent settlements by hospitals that overcompensated physicians to induce referrals may be the beginning of a trend.  And whistleblowers are driving the Justice Dept.’s enforcement.  Modern Healthcare

University of Florida will pay $20 million to settle grant fraud suit — The government alleged that the University misused grants from the Dept. of Health & Human Services by overcharging for employee salaries, charging the government for costs that were not covered by the grants, and inflating the costs of contractor services. DOJ

Would proposed “improvements” to the criminal laws protect white collar fraudsters? — A law professor examines proposed changes to the federal criminal code and sees threats to government prosecutors’ ability to pursue corporate fraud. NYT

Florida hospice settles False Claims Act suit for $3 million — Hospice of Citrus County has settled a suit that alleged it provided unnecessary and undocumented hospice services. Some patients received hospice care for more than 3 years, although Medicare and Medicaid require that patients be terminally ill and expected to live for less  than 6 months. DOJ

 Whistleblower claims Sanofi destroyed documents — A former paralegal at Sanofi, who has filed a whistleblower suit alleging the company paid kickbacks to doctors and pharmacies, claims that the company’s lawyers destroyed documents rather than  turning them over as required in litigation. CNBC