Hassan Collins, the owner and operator of several halfway houses, has pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive and pay health care fraud kickbacks. Collins admitted that, with others, he received kickbacks and submitted claims for partial-hospitalization services that were never rendered. Court documents pegged the cost to taxpayers of Collins’s misdeeds at…
Hospice Fraud Case Nets $6.1 Million Settlement
Hospice Care of Kansas LLC and its parent company Voyager HospiceCare Inc. have agreed to pay $6.1 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that they fraudulently billed Medicare for ineligible hospice services. The federal program provides hospice benefits for patients diagnosed with terminal illnesses carrying life expectancies of six months or less. Hospice Care…
Acting AAG Delery Speaks on the False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement
Last Thursday, Stuart F. Delery, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Division, addressed the ABA’s Ninth National Institute on the Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement. Delery used his remarks to highlight the prevalence healthcare-related FCA litigation, emphasize the importance of qui tam enforcement, and predict increased cooperation by businesses…
Johnson & Johnson Risperdal Settlement Rumored Near, Feds Intervene
The federal government filed a complaint to intervene in two consolidated False Claims Act suits against Johnson & Johnson alleging that the company paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Omnicare pharmacies for prescribing its anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. Sources close to the negotiations have said that a settlement is near and that Johnson & Johnson…
St. Jude to Pay $3.65 Million to Settle FCA Case
St. Jude has agreed to pay $3.65 million to resolve allegations that the company overcharged the government by promising credits for pacemakers and defibrillators replaced under warranty, but “actively conceal[ed] warranty credits” from government buyers. The whistleblower who brought the case to the government’s attention will receive $730,000 from the settlement. Read the entire article,…
Abbott Laboratories Pays $1.5 Billion to Settle Depakote FCA Case
Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve allegations that the company marketed its anti-psychotic drug Depakote for unapproved uses. The settlement includes a $700 million criminal fine and forfeiture; the remaining $800 million settles the civil allegations and will be allocated between the federal government and the states. As part of the…
U.S. Joins Case Against Princeton Review
The federal government joined a suit alleging that Princeton Review violated the False Claims Act by billing for tutoring services for underprivileged students that were never provided. Princeton Review was contracted to provide Supplemental Education Services tutoring at underperforming NYC schools under the No Child Left Behind law. Under the contract, Princeton Review was to…
Feds Charge 107 Individuals with Health Care Fraud
The Medicaid Fraud Strike Force executed a massive takedown on Wednesday, bringing health care fraud charges against 107 individuals across six states. The individuals are allegedly responsible for over $452 million in false or fraudulent Medicare claims. In addition to the charges brought against the individuals, the Department of Health and Human Services suspended or…
BNY Mellon Prevails in Virginia
A Virginia judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging BNY Mellon overcharged the state’s pension funds for foreign currency exchanges. According to the judge, the state failed to establish that BNY Mellon had submitted a claim for payment, as required under Virginia’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. A California judge dismissed similar allegations under California’s False Claims Act…
McKesson Settles AWP Case for $190 Million
McKesson has agreed to pay $190 million to resolve allegations that the company fraudulently inflated the reported prices of several of its prescription drugs in an effort to manipulate Medicare’s Average Wholesale Price. Over $2 billion has been recovered in AWP fraud cases filed against multiple drug manufacturers. Read the press release, “McKesson Corp. Pays…