A 15-year qui tam lawsuit against Healthways, Inc. has been settled for almost $40 million in damages and fees to the U.S. government and the whistleblower. A former marketing representative for Healthways, A. Scott Pogue, filed a qui tam lawsuit under the United States Civil False Claims Act. Mr. Pogue will receive between 25 and 30 percent of the government’s recovery for his involvement and Healthways, Inc. will pay the $12 million in attorney and litigation fees he accumulated throughout the suit.

Healthways was charged with violating the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying kickbacks to more than 200 doctors in exchange for referring their patients to DTCA’s hospital customers around the U.S. In 1995 the Justice Department declined to intervene in the case; however, Mr. Pogue and his attorneys decided to continue the case.

Recoveries are usually much lower than when the Justice Department does not support the whistleblower. This case “demonstrates the wisdom of Congress in deciding that the government’s decision not to participate does not mean that a case has no merit.”