Whistleblower News from the Inside - September 9, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

DOJ sues for kickbacks and unnecessary spinal surgeries — The DOJ files two False Claims Act complaints against Reliance Medical Systems for a kickback scheme in which physicians were paid to use Reliance spinal implants in the surgeries they performed, some of which were medically unnecessary.  DOJ

DOJ investigating laboratories for possible kickback schemes — The Wall Street Journal reports on Health Diagnostic Laboratory, a Virginia lab that has made hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicare while paying doctors who refer patients’ blood test work to the lab.  WSJ

Standard & Poor’s likely looking at over $1 billion in fines — The chances of settling the government’s lawsuit over S&P’s role in mortgage-bond ratings for less than $1 billion may have slipped away after Countrywide was hit with a $1.3 billion fine, the first ruling to lay out what penalties financial institutions could face under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act.    Bloomberg

Owner of home healthcare company hit with 75 month sentence — Cruz Sonia Collado, the owner of Miami-based Nestor’s Health Services, received a prison sentence of over 6 years for her $6.5 million kickback scheme designed to increase Medicare patient referrals.  DOJ

House Oversight Committee Hearing on whistleblowers — Today’s hearing is on the administration’s treatment of whistleblowers since passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act.  GAP

Annual losses suffered by elderly victims of financial fraud estimated to be $2.9 billion — Forbes reports on the “Top 4 Scams Against the Elderly” contributing to these losses.  Forbes