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
Whistleblower Watch is a comprehensive source for all False Claims Act (FCA) news and information. Every quarter, Cozen O’Connor will provide in-house counsel and compliance professionals with a summary of the most notable...more
On September 18th, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (includes Manhattan and the Bronx) announced a settlement with a cardiologist, Klaus Peter Rentrop (“Rentrop”), and his medical practice...more
The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) has agreed to pay $57 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that alleged it billed the Medicare and Medicaid programs for hundreds of millions of dollars in home care visits...more
Nonprofit Hospital System and Physician Practice Reach $10 Million Settlement for False Claims Act Allegations - Centra Health Inc., a nonprofit hospital system, and Blue Ridge Ear, Nose, Throat and Plastic Surgery, Inc.,...more
On October 4, 2019, the DOJ announced a $6.65 million settlement with a Southern California ophthalmology group, its former CEO, and several physicians, to resolve False Claims Act (FCA) allegations related to fraudulent...more
On February 12, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson dismissed a suit brought by Pacific Alliance Medical Center (PAMC) alleging, among other counts, breach of contract against its insurer for failure to cover...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that Montana’s Kalispell Regional Healthcare System (KRH) and six subsidiaries and related entities agreed to pay $24 million to resolve allegations that they violated the...more
On Aug. 7, 2018, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a whistleblower case brought under the federal False Claims Act. The principal grounds for affirmance was a finding that the employee exemption to...more
One of the reasons compliance officers and health care attorneys read fraud settlements is to identify issues the government is focused on. The cases the government decides to pursue are very indicative of the areas of fraud...more
Hospitals and physicians must consider many items when a hospital is putting together an employment contract with a physician. One question we have seen more and more hospitals ask is whether a hospital may insert a provision...more
A federal court recently dealt a victory to a health care provider over whistleblower allegations that free parking and valet service at a medical office building violated the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute....more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) reports that, in fiscal year 2016 ending September 30, it obtained more than $4.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims. More than half of this...more
On July 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict of more than $237 million against Tuomey Healthcare System, a nonprofit hospital in South Carolina, based on Stark Law and False Claims Act...more
Hailed as “another achievement” for the government’s Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (referred to as “HEAT”), the U.S. Department of Justice has announced that a Florida skilled nursing company and...more
Late last month, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated portions of a former executive’s False Claims Act (“FCA”) whistleblower action against Health Management Associates Inc. (“HMA”),...more