According to the U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas, Harris Methodist HEB Hospital, a 284 bed acute-care facility, will pay $1.9 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by improperly submitting claims for payment for orthopedic-related items and services.  These claims were identified as having taken [...]

Last month, the United States intervened in a qui tam lawsuit accusing Renal Care Group Inc. (RCG) and Renal Care Group Supply Company (RCGSC) of fraudulently billing Medicare. The suit alleges that RCG and RCGSC fraudulently billed for supplies and equipment provided to End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients who received dialysis treatments at home. [...]

Cathedral Rock Corporation of Ft. Worth, Texas, which operates five nursing homes in St. Louis, Missouri has to now defend itself against a medicaid fraud lawsuit brought by federal authorities for violations of the False Claims Act.  The lawsuit was brought by two whistleblower nurses who complained that patients were being neglected and that the facilities [...]

   Medicis Pharmaceutical, located in Scottsdale, Arizona, is paying $9.8 million to settle False Claims Act allegations.  This case was brought by four former Medicis sales representatives. The allegations centered around Loprox, a topical skin preparation.  Loprox, while approved by the FDA as a fungicide for patients over 10 years of age, was off-label marketed for [...]

On April 20, 2007, the Loma Linda Behavioral Medicine Center paid the United States government in excess of $2 million to settle allegations of overbilling from 1992-1996.  The settlementis the result of a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act.  The lawsuit was originally filed in 1998 by a former employee of [...]

The Department of Justice may end up joining a False Claims Act case to collect the $30 Million recovery won by the relator but then subsequently overturned by Judge Phillip Figa citing that fact that if a relator is dismissed from a case, the court still has subject matter jurisdiction if it intervenes. After the verdict [...]

Harris County, a part of the Houston, Texas healthcare system for the needy became the system for the greedy when it overcharged the federal government by district employees who”were asleep at the switch,”according to Commissioner Steve Radack. During 200-2005 federal programs were billed for treating hosptialized county jail inmates when in fact the Sheriff’s Office, which runs the [...]

The House Government Reform Committee earlier this month passed a bill intended to strengthen and extend federal employees’ rights when disclosing agency misdeeds. It is called the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2007 and was introduced by Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Ranking member Tom Davis, R-Va., along with Reps. Todd Platts, R-Pa., and Chris Van [...]

Right Choice Managed Care is paying the United States Government $975,000 to resolve allegations that it overcharged the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. The whistleblower in the case initially filed against Wellpoint Health Networks , which merged into/with Right Choice after the lawsuit was filed. “This civil health care fraud settlement should send a signal [...]

The Institute for Cancer Prevention (IFCP) has agreed to pay $2.3 million to resolve civil False Claims Act charges as well as potentially other claims arising from their improper receipt and use of federal grant money. IFCP was a not for profit medical research foundation located in Valhalla, New York. Although currently bankrupt, IFCP formerly [...]