Following a jury's verdict, a federal court slashed civil penalties under the False Claims Act ("FCA") as violative of the Constitution's 8th Amendment....more
Designed for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, this newsletter seeks to bring you up to speed on key federal and state False Claims Act (FCA) developments, with links to primary resources. Each quarter, we...more
On October 15, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced that his office reached a $27 million settlement with Precision Toxicology to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to government health...more
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California announced on October 11 that Dr. Janette Gray and her former medical practice, The Center for Health & Wellbeing in San Diego, resolved False Claims Act (FCA)...more
To prove a False Claim under the False Claims Act (FCA), the government or relator must establish three elements: 1.Falsity; - 2.Knowledge; and - 3.Materiality. In this blog post, we will explore the Falsity element. ...more
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced on May 8 that Michigan Ear Care PLLC and James Aronovitz, D.O. agreed to pay over $2 million to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims to...more
“Incident to” billing is widely practiced, and its regulations are generally well-known. But one Arizona physician recently found himself pleading guilty in federal court on April 3, 2024, to a criminal healthcare fraud...more
Owner of Telemedicine Companies Settles $110 Million Health Care Fraud Claim - Steven Richardson, the owner of telemedicine companies Expansion Media, LLC and Hybrid Management Group LLC, agreed to settle allegations that...more
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute Hospital Inc. in Tampa, Florida, has agreed to pay $19.564 million to settle false claims allegations over claims submitted to federal health care programs for items and...more
Former Healthcare Executives Convicted for Health Insurance Policy Fraud Scheme - Steven Dorfman, the former chief executive officer and owner of the Florida-based healthcare company Simple Health, and John Sand, a former...more
The following is a summary of selected federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports of fraud and abuse enforcement activity across the country. The enforcement actions reported...more
As previously reported in this post, criminal trials premised on upcoding evaluation and management (E/M) service codes are extremely rare. The Justice Department took that rare step in Maryland in connection with a practice...more
Health Care Network Settles False Claims Act Allegations for $345 Million - Community Health Network Inc. (CHN) has agreed to pay $345,000,000 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) for knowingly...more
On December 14, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and other agencies announced the indictment of Niranjan Mittal, a Brooklyn cardiologist, on multiple fraud charges. Mittal allegedly fabricated...more
Here are curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: •FTC Targets Optometrists, Ophthalmologists Suspected of...more
Virginia AG Jason Miyares reached a settlement with 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services, Inc. to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by submitting fraudulent billing to Virginia’s...more
To celebrate the opening of Rivkin Radler’s first Florida office, we’ll cover some recent Florida frauds. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on April 20 that two Miami residents, Dean Zusmer and Lawrence...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on April 20 that it has brought criminal charges against 18 defendants across the U.S. for various fraud schemes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The DOJ seized more than $16...more
In a climate of shrinking margins, diminishing reimbursement, and frequent denials, healthcare organizations may make efforts to increase the volume of services they provide, especially those that are more profitable. Of...more
A recent article in Part B News, “Be careful about upcoding; DOJ may come after it as a false claim,” discussed how the U.S. Department of Justice frequently prosecutes improper billing of CPT codes for Medicare patients. ...more
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York recently announced that Morris Barnard, a Great Neck gastroenterologist, was sentenced to 30 months in jail for billing Medicare for procedures he never performed....more
Since 2016, Epstein Becker Green (EBG) has researched, compiled, and analyzed state-specific content relating to the regulatory requirements for professional mental/behavioral health practitioners and stakeholders seeking to...more
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that a federal grand jury has charged two pharmacy owners, a mother-daughter duo from South Florida, with healthcare fraud, wire fraud, and payment of kickbacks in exchange...more