Whistleblower Blog Archives - Page 31 of 36

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Latest IRAQ FRAUD Report by Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

February 2, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We saw yesterday’s quarterly audit report on Iraq fraud, published by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), Stuart Bowen Jr. The message is sobering:

“The security situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, hindering progress in all reconstruction sectors and threatening the overall reconstruction effort,” in the words of the Inspector General.

We all have already seen reports of how the United States is being exploited by dishonest and incompetent contractors in Iraq. This IG Report discusses not only poor security, but also
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Government Joins Whistleblower Case Against Pharmaceutical Firm for Overcharging on Generic Drugs

February 1, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We saw another significant whistleblower case against a drug company hit the news wire this week.

The government announced that it was joining a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act against the company Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane, Inc. The Complaint alleges overcharging on pharmaceutical products.

In joining this lawsuit, the United States has alleged that the drug company engaged in a “scheme to report fraudulent and inflated prices for several pharmaceutical products, knowing that federal health care programs established reimbursement rates based on those reported prices.”

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Progress with the New IRS Rewards Program for Tax Whistleblower Cases

January 31, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We have been working with the IRS to bring information about large tax cheating to the IRS’s attention, so that clients can participate in the new IRS Whistleblower rewards. The IRS officials sound excited to have this new tool at their disposal, and we are happy to help our whistleblower clients obtain the new rewards. Our latest one deals with fraud in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, where the public and government have been cheated out of what appears to be many millions of
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Hurricane Katrina Fraud: The Government’s Inspectors General Continue to Investigate Fraud and Whistleblower Reports

January 26, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We all remember how Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita left the Gulf Coast devastated. As government agencies began to provide disaster relief with public dollars, dishonest contractors saw a huge opportunity for fraud against the government. Too many FEMA contracts have been the targets of dishonest contractors.

The “watchdogs” of the federal government agencies–the various Inspectors General of the many agencies involved in Katrina relief–have combined their efforts and sent hundreds of auditors to the Gulf region to examine fraud and mismanagement of Katrina

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New IRS Whistleblower Rewards Statute

January 26, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We hear from many lawyers and clients that they are not aware of the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program. The new provisions took effect on December 20, 2006, and yet so far they are locate on the web.

We hope it is helpful to you to find the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards amendments here, in the amended version of the statute:

26 U.S.C. § 7623.

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Why States Are Passing Their Own Qui Tam Whistleblower Laws

January 24, 2007
Michael Sullivan

I looked into the experiences that states have had with their own False Claims Acts, because almost every state is considering passing its own. I have tried to provide a brief summary that I hope is useful to you.

To encourage states to enact their own False Claims statutes with qui tam whistleblower provisions that are at least as effective as the federal Act, Congress created a large financial incentive when it passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. States that have or enact such acts become eligible as of January 1, 2007, for a 10% increase in the state’s share of Medicaid fraud recoveries.

Many states, therefore, will consider whether to follow suit by enacting their own False Claims Act as early as 2007. Thus, it is important to consider other states’ experiences with their own state statutes governing false claims.

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Will Your State Have a State False Claims Act?

January 23, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Finch McCranie, LLP has recently learned that many state government officials, including Governor Perdue of Georgia, have received a proposed State False Claims Act for consideration to be enacted in 2007. Even though the Bill has been drafted and is on his desk, at present, the Bill has not been submitted to the Legislature for consideration. Obviously, this raises a serious question as to why it is that the Governor is delaying action on this important piece of legislation.

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Significant 2006 Verdicts and Settlements of Qui Tam Whistleblower Cases Under the False Claims Act

January 22, 2007
Michael Sullivan

In our multi-part explanation of the federal False Claims Act previously posted, we have summarized the most recent verdicts and settlements of qui tam whistleblower cases (as of December 2006).

We will continue to update you on additional verdicts and settlements of significance.

The Whistleblower Statute: The Text of the False Claims Act

January 22, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We have tried to explain what readers may want to know about how the whistleblower statute works, in our article explaining the False Claims Act. Here is the current language of this law that creates rewards for qui tam whistleblowers:

FALSE CLAIMS ACT
TITLE 31. MONEY AND FINANCE
SUBTITLE III. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 37. CLAIMS
SUBCHAPTER III. CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

3729. False claims

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No More Gifts For Doctors

January 22, 2007
Michael Sullivan

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations revised its Code of Ethics on January 1 of this year for the first time in a decade. Under the newly revised Code of Ethics, members of the trade group which represents pharmaceutical companies worldwide may no longer provide “expensive gifts” or paid trips to physicians. While the code allows members to provide physicians with gifts that are related to prescription drugs that are inexpensive such as pens, paperweights, stethoscopes and other de mini’s gifts, the new

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Oklahoma Joins Nationwide Movement of States That Are Passing False Claims Acts with Qui Tam Whistlblower Provisions

May 3, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We are pleased to see yet another state–Oklahoma–realize how effective qui tam whistleblower laws are by passing a state False Claims Act this week.

The Oklahoma legislature has passed the Oklahoma Medicaid False Claims Act (SB 889). The bill’s primary author was Cox Crain.

The new whistleblower law appears to be modelled on the federal False Claims Act. As we have written about often on this whistleblower lawyer blog, states that pass such laws with qui tam whistleblower provisions that are at least as effective
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“Heathcare Auditing Strategies” Quotes Whistleblowerlawyerblog Author on State Whistleblower Statutes

May 1, 2007
Michael Sullivan

To understand why states are passing their own “False Claims Acts” with qui tam whistleblower provisions, the heath care compliance newsletter Heathcare Auditing Strategies called on one of the authors of this whistleblower lawyer blog, Michael A. Sullivan.

The May 2007 edition of this heath care compliance publication discusses the results of our efforts in this blog to explain these new state statutes, and to report on how these state statutes have fared when reviewed by the Office of Inspector General of HHS.
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Whistleblower Lawsuit Against California Hospital Accused of Overbilling is Settled

April 30, 2007
Michael Sullivan

In a whistleblower lawsuit settlement, the Loma Linda Behavioral Science Center agreed to pay more than $2 million to resolve allegations of overbilling.

This False Claims Act whistleblower case was filed by a former employee of Healthcare Financial Advisors (HFA), a consulting firm that advises hospitals in preparing cost reports. The lawsuit alleges that HFA assisted its clients in seeking reimbursement for unallowable costs from Medicare and Medi-Cal.

Justice Department Announces It Joins Qui Tam Health Care Fraud Cases Against HealthEssentials Solutions Inc.

April 26, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Health care cases remain busy this week. The Justice Department on April 26 announced that it is joining whistleblowers in pursuing three qui tam lawsuits against HealthEssentials Solutions Inc. (HES) that allege false claims were submitted to Medicare.

The cases involve allegations of upcoding — improperly using a diagnosis code that is not supported by the medical record, for the purpose of obtaining greater reimbursement–and billing for medically unnecessary services.

The three cases were filed separately in the U.S. District Court in Louisville, Ky., by
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Another State Qui Tam Whistleblower Law is Born–Georgia Bill Passes Senate and Goes to Governor for Signature

April 13, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Another state whistleblower law, with qui tam provisions that follow the federal False Claims Act, was born today. The Georgia Senate passed the “State False Medicaid Claims Act” today, and it goes to Governor Sonny Perdue for his signature.

We have been writing about this and other new state whistleblower statutes. Representative Edward Lindsey deserves credit for his sponsorship of the bill.

Our firm was fortunate enough to have been part of the legislative effort. Rep. Lindsey asked Michael A. Sullivan (one of this whistleblowerlawyerblog co-authors) to testify and explain the whistleblower law three times, before the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee. There were no dissenting votes in any of the committee votes.

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New Qui Tam Whistleblower Law Clears Senate Committee in Georgia

April 9, 2007
Michael Sullivan

A new qui tam whistleblower law has cleared another hurdle toward passage. Georgia’s Senate Insurance and Labor Committee unanimously approved the new “State False Medicaid Claims Act” this afternoon. As we have written about previously on this whistleblower lawyer blog, the new whistleblower law has already passed the Georgia House.

After an introduction by Senator Seth Harp, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Edward Lindsey, asked Inspector General Doug Colburn of the Department of Community Health and attorney Michael A. Sullivan (co-author of this
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Amendments to New IRS Whistleblower Law Considered

April 5, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We have had many calls this week from potential clients in our IRS Whistleblower practice, probably because msn.com featured an article about the IRS Whistleblower program on Monday that linked to our whistleblower lawyer blog.

As I have explained to many whistleblower clients, the new regulations for the IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program are in the works, but have not been issued. We have been pursuing IRS Whistleblower claims under the new program and have found the IRS agents to be excited about it.

Adding to the mix for those seeking a whistleblower attorney is that Congress is considering amendments to the law that established the new IRS Whistleblower Program in December 2006. Among the possible changes/additions are a provision opening up the Whistleblower Program to more claims by setting a different threshold for the amount of money in question, which could allow more whistleblowers to qualify for a reward.

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Guilty Plea in Pharmaceutical Fraud Case

April 4, 2007
Michael Sullivan

A subsidiary of the drug manufacturer Pfizer has agreed to plead guilty in a kickback scheme and to pay a criminal fine of $19.68 million, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Michael J. Sullivan (not to be confused with Michael A. Sullivan, one of the authors of this whistleblower lawyer blog).

The government’s announcement was that Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc., was charged with offering a kickback in connection with the administration and distribution
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New York Becomes Latest State to Agree to Enact a State False Claims Act

April 3, 2007
Michael Sullivan

The New York legislature has become the latest state to agree to the enactment of a State False Claims Act, when it approved passage of such a whistleblower law as part of approving the state budget. The Buffalo Times reported on this encouraging development.

We have written before about why states are passing their own whistleblower laws to protect taxpayer money. Congress has created significant financial incentives for states that pass their own state false claims acts, with whistleblower provisions that are at
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New Medicaid Whistleblower Law Passes House in Georgia

March 27, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We have been writing about why states are passing their own whistleblower laws, with qui tam provisions that are at least as effective as the federal False Claims Act. Georgia’s legislature took a giant step forward when its House of Representatives today passed the State False Medicaid Claims Act–by an overwhelming margin of 164-2!

As we have mentioned before on this whistleblower lawyer blog, when the House Judiciary Committee met to discuss and approve the new whistleblower statute, two witnesses were invited
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