The steady stream of SEC whistleblower awards continues, as the SEC has paid $300,000 to its tenth whistleblower. The individual, whose anonymity has been preserved, is the first whistleblower to receive an award for providing information gained while working in an audit and compliance capacity. Under the SEC whistleblower statute, in order for an individual…
Dr. Reddy’s Faces FCA Suit on Childproof Packaging
Indian pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories announced in a recent SEC filing that it is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice for False Claims Act violations in connection with the company’s alleged failure to adequately child-proof its drug packaging. According to the company, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is pursuing civil penalties under…
HP to Pay $32.5 Million for Overcharging Post Office
Hewlett-Packard agreed to pay $32.5 million to settle allegations that the company charged the U.S. Postal Service more than was agreed upon in their contract. Under HP’s contract with the USPS, HP was obligated to give the USPS the lowest price given to comparable customers. HP allegedly failed to give the USPS the benefit of…
McKesson to Pay $18 Million for Poor Vaccine Shipping Controls
McKesson Corporation agreed to pay $18 million to settle allegations that it shipped vaccines for the CDC without proper temperature controls. McKesson has a contract with the CDC to ship vaccines that the agency purchases from vaccine manufacturers to health care providers. Although the shipments were supposed to be electronically monitored to ensure that the…
Community Health Systems to Pay $98.15 Million to Settle 7 FCA Cases
Community Health Systems Inc. (CHS) has agreed to pay $89.15 million to settle allegations that its hospitals unnecessarily admitted patients in order to take advantage of more generous inpatient billing rates. The settlement resolves allegations brought in seven separate False Claims Act lawsuits which were initiated by several whistleblowers, including a former Director of Health…
SEC Awards $400,000 to Whistleblower
The SEC announced that it had paid $400,000 to a whistleblower who brought information to the commission. In a unique turn of events, the SEC initially denied the whistleblower’s award claim, stating that although his or her information led to a successful enforcement action, the whistleblower’s information “did not appear to have been voluntarily provided…because…
Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center to Pay $600,000
Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center has agreed to pay $600,000 to New York State to settle allegations that it operated an uncertified satellite facility and fraudulently billed New York Medicaid. According to the NY Attorney General’s Office, Whitman Ingersoll Farragut Health Center, a satellite facility of Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center, did not have an operating certificate….
DOJ Intervenes in Whistleblower Lawsuit against Symantec Corporation
The Department of Justice announced it will intervene in a whistleblower lawsuit against Symantec Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, relating to a General Services Administration (GSA) contract signed by the company in 2007 to sell computer software products directly to federal purchasers. The case alleges that Symantec Corp. knowingly made misrepresentations about its business practices…
BNP Case Spurs Calls for New Whistleblower Program in Banking
After whistleblowers played a prominent role in BNP Paribas SA’s $9 billion settlement with the U.S. authorities, some are calling for federal regulators to expand whistleblower protection to banks and insurance companies. Currently, whistleblowers who report securities and commodities violations are awarded a share of fines collected by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)…
Alabama Hospital System & Physicians Pay $24.5M to Resolve Allegations of Illegal Medicare Referrals
Alabama-based Infirmary Health System Inc. (IHS), two IHS-affiliated clinics, and Diagnostic Physicians Group P.C. (DPG) will pay $24.5 million to the U.S. government to settle claims that they paid or received financial inducements from Medicare payments in violation of the False Claims Act. According to the government’s complaint, the IHS-affiliated clinics and DPG violated the…