Novartis has agreed to pay $390 million to settle allegations that it gave discounts or rebates to specialty pharmacies to increase prescriptions of its drugs. Three other companies–BioScrip, Accredo Health Group, and Express Scripts–have already paid a collective $75 million to settle related allegations. In settling its case, BioScrip had agreed to provide the government with information…
Millennium Health to Pay $256M to Settle Allegations of Kickbacks, Unnecessary Testing
Millennium Health has agreed to pay $256 million to settle allegations that the company conducted medically unnecessary testing and provided free items to doctors who made referrals to Millennium. According to the DOJ press release: The United States alleged that Millennium caused physicians to order excessive numbers of urine drug tests, in part through the…
L-3 to Pay $4.63 Million to Settle Defense Contracting FCA Suit
L-3 Communications Corporation, Vertex Aerospace LLC and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP (“L-3”) have agreed to pay $4.63 million to settle allegations that the companies overcharged the military for the time spent by independent contractors at pre-deployment processing sites. According to DOJ: L-3 performed rotary aviation maintenance and support services for the U.S. Army in…
SEC Pays Whistleblower Over $3 Million
The SEC announced that it paid an award of over $3 million to a whistleblower whose tip “helped the SEC crack a complex fraud.” The SEC wrote: The whistleblower’s specific and detailed information comprehensively laid out the fraudulent scheme which otherwise would have been very difficult for investigators to detect. The whistleblower’s initial tip also…
DaVita Pays $450 Million to Settle Non-Intervened FCA Suit
DaVita Kidney Care has agreed to pay $450 million to settle a False Claims Act case alleging that the dialysis center overbilled the government for drugs. According to the whistleblower, DaVita billed the government for Zemplar, Venofer, and Epogen in ways that maximized the amount of wasted product reimbursed by the government. For certain products, Medicare will…
Two Labs to Pay $48.5 Million for Referral Fee Kickbacks and Unnecessary Testing
The Department of Justice announced that two cardiovascular disease testing laboratories have agreed to collectively pay $48.5 million to settle False Claims Act allegations. According to DOJ, Health Diagnostics Laboratory Inc. (HDL) and Singulex Inc. paid kickbacks to physicians for referrals and billed for unnecessary tests. The allegations against HDL and Singulex were brought by…
Medtronic to Pay $4.41 Million for Selling Devices Manufactured in Violation of TAA
Medtronic has agreed to pay $4.41 million to settle allegations that it sold to the U.S. Government medical devices and instruments that did not meet Trade Agreements Act requirements: According to the settlement agreement, between 2007 and 2014, Medtronic sold to the VA and DoD products it certified would be made in the United States…
Adventist Health System to Pay $5.4 Million for Unsupervised Radiation Services
DOJ announced that Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation (“Adventist Health System”) has agreed to pay $5,412,502 to settle allegations that it provided radiation services to cancer patients that were not supervised by a radiation oncologist or other qualified person: Radiation oncology services provided to patients served by Medicare and TRICARE, the Department of Defense’s…
Gilbane Building Company to Pay $1.1 Million for Fraudulently Obtaining Contracts Set Aside for Disabled Vets
The Department of Justice announced that Gilbane Building Company has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle allegations that W.G. Mills Incorporated (now part of Gilbane) created a front-company in order to obtain contracts set aside for small businesses owned by disabled veterans: To qualify as a SDVOSB [Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business], a…
MetLife Home Loans to Pay $123 Million to Settle FCA Suit Alleging FHA Violations
The Department of Justice has announced that MetLife Home Loans (as successor to MetLife Bank) has agreed to pay $123.5 million to settle allegations that the bank knowingly originated and underwrote mortgage loans that did not meet requirements to be insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration: During the…