Whistleblower News From The Inside -- July 6, 2017

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Tennessee DME manufacturer settles FCA suit for $2.7M— Tennessee DME manufacturer Innovative Therapies settled allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare when it classified its negative pressure wound treatment as DME, despite those devices not having the expected life of a durable device. The case was brought by a whistleblower, who will receive $488K. USAO Middle District of Tennessee

Mortgage company settles FCA suit for $4.2M—Prospect Mortgage settled allegations it committed mortgage fraud in connection with the direct endorsement lender program administered by the FHA and HUD. The allegations centered on Prospect’s failure to comply with underwriting and quality control requirements when issuing FHA insured loans. USAO Northern District of California

Duke University admits to data falsification in FCA suit—In response to an FCA suit, Duke University’s internal investigators admitted they believe a lab-tech falsified data that went into 29 medical reports. A relator’s complaint alleges the fraudulent data was used to obtain federal research grants. While admitting to data falsification, Duke denied knowing about any warning signs and denies the scienter required for an FCA violation. Durham Herald-Sun