Hidden schemes to defraud Medicare and state Medicaid programs of scarce taxpayer dollars are at the heart of many whistleblower cases under the federal and state False Claims Acts. This morning, Wisconsin Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen announced that a Dane County, Wisconsin jury has just declared that a…
Some recent significant recoveries under the False Claims Act–the nation’s primary tool for fighting fraud and false claims–are summarized below. This summary is part of a paper I submitted in connection with serving on the faculty (with some excellent attorneys) of the “Southeastern Health Care Fraud Institute” on December 18,…
The country’s ongoing economic distress has produced layoffs in many industries, and pharma appears to be feeling the pain as well. Recent layoffs reported in the drug industry include Sanofi (650 sales reps);Novartis (550 U.S. salespersons);Merck (8,000); Wyeth (2,440); GSK (1,000); Schering-Plough (5,500);and Boehringer Ingelheim (200).
Will Wall Street Bailout Produce the Next Round of Whistleblowers Reporting Fraud? The U.S. Department of Justice this week announced its FY 2008 recoveries in fraud and False Claims Act cases, with more than $1 billion in health care fraud recoveries alone, and a total of more than $1.3 billion.…
In our former life as lawyers defending False Claims Act cases, our defendant clients had to consider whether the payments made to settle qui tam cases under the False Claims Act were deductible for tax purposes, and to what extent. The IRS recently issued a paper on the subject: whether…
The Medicare program depends on the integrity of “trusted contractors” to process and pay Medicare claims. This past week, one of those “trusted contractors” operating in New Jersey, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, agreed to pay the federal government $2.1 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act.…
The wave of new State False Claims Acts has generated a flurry of letters from the Office of Inspector General of HHS this past week. OIG has now “approved” the new State False Claims Acts of California, Georgia, Indiana, and Rhode Island, but has “disapproved” those of six other states:…
Having lunch this week with a public servant who investigates heath care fraud, I was struck once again by his descriptions of abuses that nursing home residents too often suffer, many of which our whistleblower attorneys had also encountered in past cases. It is damnable enough to steal federal and…
The government’s announcement this week of a $60 million Medicare fraud settlement with a Missouri hospital system is yet another example of the need for ongoing deterrence of health care fraud. According to the government, Lester E. Cox Medical Systems violated the False Claims Act, the nation’s primary tool for…
“What motivates whistleblowers” is a question that our whistleblower attorneys are asked frequently. Basic honesty and integrity–trying to do the right thing–is what we see most. It is deeply satisfying when a whistleblower’s courage in insisting on honesty and integrity is recognized and applauded. I just received this note that…