Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), which owns or controls some 41 hospitals in California, Arizona, and Nevada, has agreed to pay the federal government $9.1 million to settle allegations that seven of its hospitals submitted false claims to Medicare in the 1990s. Three of the hospitals – O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, Seton Medial Center in…
NY AG and Manhattan USAO Investigating State Street
According to a recent disclosure by the company, State Street Corp. has received inquiries from both the New York Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York regarding its foreign exchange business. California filed a suit against State Street in 2009 alleging that the company had charged its standing instruction clients, such…
Young Adult Institute Resolves Medicaid Fraud Allegations with $18 Million Settlement
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schniderman announced a settlement with Young Adult Institute, Inc. (YAI) on January 18, to resolve allegations that they defrauded Medicaid. YAI allegedly inflated expenses on its annual reports to the state to receive funding it was not entitled to, falsely indicating that that staff members worked on programs and…
APS Healthcare Agrees to Financial Settlement and Oversight to Settle False Claims Accusations
APS Healthcare of White Plains, NY, settled false claims allegations on February 22 that they failed to provide services to Georgia’s Medicaid population, reaching a $13 million settlement with the Federal Government and the state of Georgia. The government alleged that APS Healthcare submitted claims to the Georgia Medicaid Management Program (GAMMP) for specialty services…
Federal Government Pursues False Claim Lawsuit Against Army Contractor
The U. S. Government has intervened in a lawsuit against Kellogg Brown & Root Services Inc. (KBR), filed in February 2007 by whistleblower James A. Brady III. Brady, a former KBR employee, alleged that the company was unable to account for materials paid to a Turkish subcontractor, Yuksel-Reyas, who were retained to perform operations and…
Record-Setting Verdict for Damages Against Drug-Maker Actavis
A Texas county jury found against drug manufacturer Actavis Mid-Atlantic, LLC, and co-defendant Actavis Elizabeth, LLC, for misrepresenting drug prices to Medicaid. The manufacturers will pay $170.3 million due to improper drug price reporting. The verdict was the result of a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Ven-a-Care, a small Florida pharmacy. While federal and state attorneys…
CareSource and Entities Settle False Claims Allegations by $26 Million Settlement
Ohio-based CareSource, CareSource Management Group Co., and CareSource USA Holding Co. will pay $26 million to resolve false claims allegations. The settlement resolves a whistleblower action initiated by two former CareSource employees, Laura Rupert and Robin Herzog, who will receive $3.1 million of the federal portion of the settlement. CareSource, which provides managed care benefits…
Guidant and Boston Scientific Accused of Selling Defective Heart Devices
The United States Department of Justice has filed a complaint against Guidant and its parent company, Boston Scientific Corp. charging those companies with selling defective cardiac devices. The Ventak Prizm 2 and Renewal 1 and 2, cardio defibrillators designed to deliver therapy that prevents cardiac death, are implanted into a patient’s chest, sending an electrical…
St. Jude Medical Settles Claims of Kickbacks to Physicians
Minnesota-based St. Jude Medical Inc. will pay the U.S. $16 million to settle claims that it used three post-market studies, intended to assess the clinical performance of a medical device or drug post FDA-approval, to encourage physicians to implant their pacemakers and defibrillators. They also used a device registry to pay kickbacks to physicians. The…
Seven Hospitals Settle Accusations of Performing Kyphoplasty as In-Patient Procedure
Seven hospitals from Florida to Texas will pay more than $6.3 million to settle allegations that they performed simple spine procedures – which are normally done as outpatient cases – in inpatient settings, thereby increasing their billings. Whistleblowers Craig Patrick and Charles Bates, both formerly employed by device-maker Kyphon, detailed how Kyphon employees coached hospitals…