First Circuit Joins Sixth and Eighth Circuits in Adopting Heightened, But-For Causation Standard for AKS-Based FCA Claims - On February 18, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit became the latest court to agree...more
The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), in connection with its enforcement responsibilities, must exclude a party from the federal health care programs if the party is found to have violated certain federal laws. This type...more
UCHealth Settles FCA Violations for $23 Million - On November 12, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that University of Colorado Health (UCHealth) agreed to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims...more
San Diego Physician and Medical Practice Pay $3.8 Million to Resolve FCA Allegations- San Diego-based physician Dr. Janette J. Gray and her former medical practice, The Center for Health & Wellbeing, agreed to pay $3.8...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
As we detailed in a previous blog, on October 3, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a strategic plan to “safeguard[] the integrity of HHS grants and contracts.” The...more
Welcome to the Summer 2024 issue of “FCA Enforcement & Compliance Digest,” our quarterly newsletter in which we compile essential updates on False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement trends, litigation, agency guidance, and...more
Hospital Executive and Three Physicians to Pay More Than $880,000 to Resolve Kickback Allegations - On Monday, December 4, 2023, a Lexington, Texas, hospital executive and three health care providers agreed to pay more...more
On March 29, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release announcing three related civil settlements totaling over $69 million with Covenant Healthcare System and two physicians—Dr. Mark Adams, a neurosurgeon,...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced two settlement agreements, both involving durable medical equipment (“DME”) companies, following allegations that the companies had violated the Anti-Kickback...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 31, no. 35 (September 26, 2022) - For the third time in about 2 1/2 years, hospitals or other providers that are part of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, a large health system in New Hampshire,...more
The Department of Justice announced in a February 1, 2022 press release (Press Release) that it obtained more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims in the fiscal year...more
CEO of Defunct Medical Testing Lab to Pay $1.1 Million to Settle FCA and AKS Case - Jae Lee, the former CEO of defunct Northwest Physicians Laboratory (NWPL), agreed to pay $1.1 million to resolve allegations that he...more
The owner of Campbell Medical Clinic in Houston and her medical group agreed to resolve fraudulent billing allegations for $2.6 million. Chiropractor Agrees to Pay $2.6 Million and to 10-Year Exclusion from Federal Health...more
Pharmaceutical Company Agrees to Pay $12.6 Million to Settle FCA Allegations Involving Kickbacks - On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced a $12.6 million settlement with Incyte Corporation, a Delaware...more
Urgent Care Provider and Management Company to pay $22.5 Million to End FCA Claims - South Carolina urgent care providers agreed to pay $22.5 million to resolve False Claims Act claims filed by two former employees. The...more
Medical device maker Merit Medical Systems (“MMS”) agreed to pay $18 million to resolve allegations that the company submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE by paying kickbacks to physicians and hospitals to...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 6 (February 17, 2020) - Tenet Healthcare Corp. and an affiliated hospital, Desert Regional Medical Center, have agreed to pay $1.41 million to settle False Claims Act (FCA)...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 2 (January 20, 2020) - - The HHS Office of Inspector General has updated its Work Plan, which includes an item on early discharges from inpatient rehabilitation facilities to home...more
Boston Heart Diagnostics, a Massachusetts company, agree to pay $26.7 million to settle a False Claims Act case involving allegations of paying illegal kickbacks to physicians....more
Defense Vehicle Manufacturer Accused of Defrauding the Government by $1.2 Billion - On Tuesday, December 3, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed a six-year-old False Claims Act complaint...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 28, no. 41 (November 18, 2019) - - North Carolina physician Damian Brezinski and his medical group, Wilmington Health, agreed to pay $244,000 to settle false claims allegations in connection...more
On October 13, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced a settlement for over $440,000 with First Coast Cardiovascular Institute, P.A. (“First Coast”), a large cardiovascular physician...more
Trends & Analysis - Since our last Qui Tam Update, we have identified 39 health-related False Claims Act (“FCA”) qui tam cases that have been unsealed. Of those cases...more
Finding that Community Hospital Systems had been “too clever by half” in negotiating a global settlement agreement for seven whistleblower suits, a federal judge ordered the chain to pay the attorneys’ fees of all the...more