The government intervened in a whistleblower case and filed a complaint against software vendor CA Inc. (CA), claiming that CA knowingly overcharged the government under a General Services Administration (GSA) contract. CA allegedly provided incomplete and inaccurate pricing information to GSA contracting officers during negotiations and failed to pass on the same discounts to the…
Government Joins Whistleblower Case against CA Inc. for Overcharging Government on GSA Contract
The government intervened in a whistleblower case and filed a complaint against software vendor CA Inc. (CA), claiming that CA knowingly overcharged the government under a General Services Administration (GSA) contract. CA allegedly provided incomplete and inaccurate pricing information to GSA contracting officers during negotiations and failed to pass on the same discounts to the…
AAG Delery Speaks on the Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement
Stuart F. Delery, the Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Division, addressed the ABA’s 10th National Institute on the Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement. Delery used his remarks to emphasize that “the False Claims Act works” because it is an effective tool to fight fraud, provides powerful incentives for companies to…
SEC Pays Another Whistleblower Award
The SEC announced yesterday that it had made an award of $875,000 to two whistleblowers, bringing the total number of award recipients to eight. The SEC’s order determined that the whistleblowers will receive 30% of any monetary sanctions collected, or to be collected in the future. This is the maximum award permitted under the recently-adopted…
Oncology Practice Pays $3.7 Million for Watering Down Chemotherapy to Increase Bills
Elizabethtown Hematology Oncology, an oncology practice, and its owners agreed to pay $3.7 million to settle allegations that it diluted patients’ chemotherapy treatments and delivered them over an extended period of time in order to increase its payments from government health care programs. Additionally, the company allegedly billed for unnecessary examinations while patients were receiving…
Kentucky Hospital to Pay $41 Million to Settle FCA Claims
King’s Daughters Medical Center (KDMC) has agreed to pay $40.9 million to settle allegations that the Kentucky hospital violated the False Claims Act by performing unnecessary medical procedures, falsifying patient records, and paying the doctors performing those procedures unreasonably high salaries. According to the allegations, doctors at KDMC implanted coronary stents and performed diagnostic catheterizations…
Novartis Accused of Paying Kickbacks to Pharmacists
A lawsuit filed Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York alleges that Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, improperly paid kickbacks to pharmacists in the form of discounts and rebates in exchange for their promoting one of its products. The drug at issue, Myfortic, is an immunosuppressant with 2012 sales of…
Amedisys to Pay $150 Million to Settle FCA Allegations
Amedisys Inc. and affiliated companies have agreed to pay $150 million to settle allegations that the home healthcare company violated the False Claims Act by billilling Medicare for unnecessary services and provided services to patients that did not meet home healthcare requirements. Additionally, the FCA case alleged that Amedisys provided home healthcare services to an…
Medical Equipment Supplier Faces FCA Lawsuit by Government
The government has intervened in a False Claims Act lawsuit against Orbit Medical Inc. and Jake Kilgore, a former VP in charge of sales, claiming that the medical equipment company boosted its sales through falsified records and fraudulent billings. The lawsuit alleges that Kilgore directed Orbit Medical’s sale representatives to knowingly alter physician prescriptions and…
Bank of America to Pay $9.3 Billion for Selling Troubled Mortgage-Backed Securities
Bank of America has agreed to pay more than $9.3 billion to settle a suit brought by the Federal Housing Finance Agency alleging that Bank of America, Countrywide, and Merrill Lynch (now both owned by BofA) sold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities backed by troubled mortgages. Bank of America agreed to buy back some…