Category Archives: Whistleblowers
Did the Marlins Make a False Claim?
As reported in the Florida Herald, the sale of the Florida Marlins by former owner Jeffrey Loria in September of 2017 potentially triggered a windfall for Florida-Dade. A clause in the 2009 profit-sharing deal between the ballclub and Florida-Dade supposedly required the team to provide 5 percent of sale proceeds to the city. But… Read More »
TeamHealth Settles Whistleblower Case for $60 Million
Last month, hospital service provider Team Health Holdings agreed to pay $60 million plus interest to settle a case that involved a physician services company it acquired, which knowingly overcharged several health care programs, violating the False Claims Act. The Justice Department alleged that IPC Healthcare Inc. billed Medicare, Medicaid, the Defense Health Agency… Read More »
Should Edward Snowden Be Pardoned?
According to a news article published by The New York Times, Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agent contractor, is now considered an outlaw after disclosing information about the secret documents that detailed the US’s mass surveillance programs. Although the president acknowledged the public debate that Snowden’s revelations provoked, he now faces possible espionage… Read More »
Whistleblower Lawsuit Accuses Visiting Nurse Service of New York of Fraud
A recent article published by the New York Times reports that a whistleblower lawsuit has been brought against Visiting Nurse Service of New York for allegedly extracting hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicaid and Medicare through falsified billings and inadequately providing doctor-ordered care to patients. The suit was brought by a senior manager… Read More »
Recently Introduced US Bill May Further Protect Hanford Whistleblowers
According to an article published by OPB, on Monday, September 26, a federal bill was introduced to safeguard whistleblowers at nuclear sites. Democratic senators Rod Wyden of Oregon, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri created the legislation. Walter Tamosaitis, a high-profile Hanford whistleblower, stated there is a large learning curve… Read More »
Hospice Provider Settles Whistleblower Claims For $150 Million
A major hospice and health care services provider in Pennsylvania has settled whistleblower claims for $150 million. The company, Amedisys, settled seven separate suits filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, according to the U.S. Lawyer’s Office. Just over $26 million will be split between the realtors, with the rest… Read More »
Florida Tops List of Providers Banned by Medicare
Of all of Medicare’s banned providers, Florida tops the list with nearly 1,500 addresses. Florida comes in first place on the federal government’s “exclusion database,” which contains more than 57,000 entries. And Florida tops the list by a long shot. Following Florida’s 1,491 entries, Los Angeles comes in second place with 522. Phoenix, Brooklyn… Read More »
Whistleblowers: Florida-Based Hospital Chain Sued
The Justice Department has joined eight separate whistle-blower lawsuits against Health Management Associates, a for-profit hospital chain based in Naples, Fla. The lawsuit describes a wide-ranging strategy involving sophisticated software, financial incentives and threats to inflate the company’s payments from Medicare and Medicaid by admitting patients, regardless of whether a patient needed hospital care…. Read More »
Johnson & Johnson To Pay $2.2 Billion For False Marketing
To settle charges of misbranding and paying “kickbacks” to doctors and nursing homes, Johnson & Johnson will pay $2.2 billion. The settlement involves the schizophrenia drugs Risperdal and Invega, and the heart failure drug Natrector. According to the Lawyer General Eric Holder, the company “lined their pockets at the expense of American taxpayers, patients… Read More »
Broward Psychiatric CEO Sentenced To 25 Years For Medicare Fraud
A judge just sentenced a psychiatric CEO to 25 years in prison for Medicare fraud. Karen Kallen-Zury, a 60-year-old Lighthouse Point woman, and CEO if the Hollywood Pavilion psychiatric facility was also ordered to repay about $40 million to the Medicare program and had her bond revoked. The judge also delivered lengthy prison sentences… Read More »