A Los Angeles pastor has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty for his role in orchestrating a health care fraud conspiracy. Christopher Iruke, his wife, and several others fraudulently billed Medicare for power wheelchairs and orthotics that were either medically unnecessary or never provided. The group paid recruiters to offer…
SEC Changes Settlement Policies
The SEC has changed its settlement language policy where a defendant has already been found guilty in a criminal case. While such defendants were previously allowed to “neither admit nor deny” the allegations, now those defendants will state that they do not deny the allegations. Some have noted that this involves less of a substantive…
CFTC Names Head of New Whistleblower Office
The CFTC has named Vicente Martinez as the head of the CFTC Whistleblower Office. Prior to joining the CFTC, Mr. Martinez worked in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement as Assistant Director and also worked to establish and run the SEC’s Office of Market Intelligence. Read the entire press release, “CFTC Chairman Names Vincente Martinez as…
Actavis to Pay an Additional $118.6 Million to Resolve Outstanding FCA Cases
After announcing an $84 million settlement with the state of Texas earlier this week, Actavis has agreed to pay an additional $118.6 million to settle False Claims Act cases with the federal government, New York, Florida, South Carolina, and Iowa. The suit alleged that Actavis reported falsely inflated prices for its pharmaceutical drugs in order…
Anandarko Petroleum to Pay $ 26 Million; Whistleblower to Get 30%
Anandarko Petroleum has agreed to pay $26 million to settle allegations that its predecessor in interest, Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corporation, knowingly filed false federal crude oil reports and underpaid royalties to the U.S. government. A federal jury found against Kerr-McGee in 2007 but due to appellate issues, a judgment was not entered until September…
Denver Health Medical Center to Pay $6.3 Million
Denver Health Medical Center has agreed to pay $6.3 million to resolve allegations that it overbilled Medicare and Medicaid by inappropriately classifying patients held for observation or given outpatient services as inpatients, allowing for larger reimbursements. The whistleblower who brought the case to the government’s attention will receive $817,959. Read the entire press release, “Denver…
Whistleblower Suit Filed Against AseraCare
A nurse manager at hospice company AseraCare filed a federal False Claims Act suit against the company alleging that it enrolled patients in hospice care who did not meet the requirements for Medicare reimbursement and that the company coordinated its use of nursing care and hospice care to maximize reimbursements. According to the allegations, the…
Wrongful Dismissal Suit Leads to Fraud Investigation?
After an internal compliance employee filed a wrongful dismissal case against Health Management Associates, the Department of Health and Human Services sought records the employee allegedly refused to hand over to the company. According to the employee, he was fired after reporting to company executives that HMA’s hospitals were overbilling Medicare. According to the company,…
Maersk Line to Pay $31.9 Million for Defense Contract Fraud
Maersk Line and its affiliate Maersk Line Limited have agreed to pay $31.9 million to resolve allegations that it overcharged the government in connection with a defense contract to transport cargo containers to military locations within Iraq and Afghanistan. The overcharges allegedly include late fees and maintenance charges for services which were already accounted for…
GE Healthcare to Pay $30 Million for Marketing Fraud
GE Healthcare agreed to pay $30 million to resolve allegations that it improperly marketed Myoview, a diagnostic drug used in cardiology tests, by encouraging physicians to dilute the drug in order to use the product on more patients than intended. In addition to going against the FDA’s drug label directions and potentially causing false positives…