attorney for health care whistleblowers

July 21, 2017

DOJ Announces Largest Health Care Fraud Enforcement in Department History

david-everett-strickler-196946-copy-300x195 On July 13, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., announced the Department of Justice’s largest ever health care fraud enforcement action. The work of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, established in 2007, led to 412 defendants being charged with health care fraud offenses based on information they all participated in fraudulent schemes to obtain about $1.3 billion in false billings to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. Additionally, HHS has begun the suspension process against 295 health care providers’ licenses.

Hundreds of Individuals Charged With Health Care Fraud

Of the 412 defendants, 115 are physicians, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals. Many of these defendants were charged with federal crimes for prescribing medically unnecessary drugs and compound medications, many of which were not actually distributed to the patients or purchased. Providers could then bill for these unnecessary or unpurchased medications and receive a greater amount of reimbursements from state and federal health services.

July 7, 2017

DOJ Cases Against Major Insurer United Health Group Continue

by Gregory J. Brod

There are currently two False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam cases against United Health Group (UHG) pending in the Central District of California. The cases are: U.S. ex rel. Benjamin Poehling v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. and U.S. ex rel. Swoben v. Secure Horizons, et al. The cases were brought by James Swoben, who was previously an employee of Senior Care Action Network Health Plan and a consultant within the risk adjustment industry, and Benjamin Poehling, who was the former finance director of a UHG group that managed the insurer’s Medicare Advantage Plans.

The Qui Tam Cases Against UHG

On May 2, the U.S. intervened in the Swoben False Claims Act suit against UHG based on the allegations the insurer overcharged Medicare Advantage and prescription drug programs. In the DOJ’s complaint, it alleges the insurer knowingly ignored patients’ medical conditions to increase payments it received from Medicare and funded chart reviews to increase the risk adjustment payments it reviewed. However, any information the reviews uncovered regarding misdiagnoses were disregarded to avoid repaying Medicare.

May 12, 2017

Oncology Therapy Center Pays $3 Million in Healthcare Fraud Settlement

by Gregory J. Brod

A radiation therapy center based in Lancaster agreed to pay $3 million to the federal government to resolve a claim that it committed healthcare fraud for close to 10 years. A qui tam suit based on the federal False Claims Act, filed by former employee Jared Shindler, alleged that Valley Tumor Medical Group submitted fraudulent bills to the federal Medicare, Medi-Cal, and TRICARE programs between Jan. 3, 2006 through Nov. 13, 2015. According to the whistleblower suit, radiation oncology treatments were provided to patients at Valley Tumor’s Ridgecrest location when no physicians were on site, which is required by federal law.

The Case Was Made Public April 20

While the lawsuit was filed in 2015, it was only recently unsealed. That is because qui tam cases are filed under seal so that the government has time to investigate the claim and determine whether to join the suit as a party or decline to join. During this time, the lawsuit must remain a secret from the public, including the defendant. If the relator or government leaks information about the existence of the suit, there can repercussions such as fines or the dismissal of the suit.

May 5, 2017

University of California Discovers Health Care Fraud Targeting Students

by Gregory J. Brod

The University of California recently announced that it uncovered evidence of a fraudulent health care scheme targeting students. Local health care providers would recruit and encourage students to enroll in fake clinical trials or apply for fake jobs. This allowed them to gain the student’s personal and health plan information. These providers would then write fake prescriptions in the student’s names to ultimately obtain close to $12 million from UC. The university found at least nine individual health care providers were involved.

UC Filed Complaint in Los Angeles County

UC filed a complaint against the allegedly fraudulent health care providers on April 20 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Listed as defendants are California Clinical Trials, LLC, Studios Pharmacy, Excel Care Pharmacy, Pharma Pro Solutions, and 17 individuals, including physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other medical professionals.

April 28, 2017

California Dermatologist Settles Qui Tam Claim With Federal Government

by Gregory J. Brod

The federal government has once against settled a qui tam claim based on the False Claims Act (FCA) with a medical provider. In April, the government announced it came to an agreement with dermatologist and surgeon Dr. Norman A. Brooks, M.D., for $2,681.400 based on false billings to Medicare. Dr. Brooks owns a medical facility in Encino, California. The federal government continues to aggressively enforce the FCA and health care providers are a main target. Fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid are unfortunately common and can unlawfully keep millions of dollars from the federal government.

Qui Tam Claim Against California Dermatologist

Dr. Brooks’ former employee Janet Burke brought the qui tam lawsuit under the FCA against the physician. Burke alleged that Dr. Brooks would falsely diagnose patients with skin cancer in order to bill Medicare for services and Mohs surgeries he unnecessarily performed. Mohs micrographic surgery is a procedure to remove certain types of skin cancers in certain areas of the body. It is known as the best way to remove Basil Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma. It leaves behind the greatest amount of healthy tissue. Dr. Brooks would invoice for this type of surgery because it was more costly and returned a higher reimbursement than other procedures for removing skin cancer or lesions.

April 7, 2017

Government Allowed Writs of Attachment and Garnishment Against Defendants in Qui Tam Cases

by Gregory J. Brod

In the qui tam case of BlueWave Healthcare v. U.S., the government was allowed to execute writs of attachment against both real and personal property and writs of garnishment against bank accounts of the defendants under the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act (FDCPA). The defendant’s attempted to appeal the denial of their motions to quash these writs, but this appeal was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

About the Case

The qui tam case was filed by Scarlett Lutz and Kayla Webster against BlueWave HealthCare Consultants, Robert Bradford Johnson, and Floyd Calhoun Dent in 2014. Lutz and Webster, the relators, alleged that the defendants had violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act. They stated that the defendants arranged for illegal kickback payments to doctors, which were labeled processing and handling fees. The federal government intervened in the case in April of 2015.

May 2, 2016

Another Major Settlement in a Pharmaceutical Industry Health Care Fraud Case

by Gregory J. Brod

We can tell you that the False Claims Act is a powerful tool for fighting the growing epidemic of health care fraud in the United States. We prefer, however, to show you by citing some of the biggest verdicts and settlements in the field. This week, we highlight a settlement involving allegations of Medicaid fraud in the pharmaceutical industry. As a Medicare and Medicaid fraud whistleblowers’ law firm, we help honest witnesses bring lawsuits in cases like this one to fight back against pharmaceutical company fraud and other cases of fraud against government health care programs.

Drug Company to Pay $784.6 Million to Settle Claims It Failed to Report Accurate Pricing Data and Underpaid Medicaid Drug Rebates

On April 27, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a press release announcing that Wyeth and Pfizer (Pfizer acquired Wyeth after the alleged conduct ended; defendants referred to collectively as “Wyeth”) have agreed to pay $784.6 million to settle a False Claims Act suit alleging Wyeth committed Medicaid fraud by reporting false prices on two of its medications. The complaint alleged that Wyeth gave thousands of hospitals deep discounts on two protein pump inhibitor drugs but failed to report these lower prices to the government. Allegedly, Wyeth used a bundled sales agreement to induce hospitals to purchase two of its drugs and place them on hospital formularies. The government believes Wyeth sought to control the hospital market in part because patients often stay on the drugs for a long time after discharge and payers, including Medicaid, would then end up paying nearly full price for the medications.

January 11, 2016

The False Claims Act and the Health Care Fraud Fight in 2016

by Gregory J. Brod

The False Claims Act (“FCA” or “the Act”) is one of the most important tools we have in the fight against health care fraud and other frauds on the federal government. When an organization or individual knowingly takes more money from the government than the law allows or otherwise submits a false claim to the government, the FCA allows the government to recover triple damages plus an appropriate penalty. Examples of false claims include overcharging Medicare for medical treatment and supplying the military with goods that don’t meet contractual requirements. The Act has a special qui tam provision that allows individuals to act as whistleblowers and bring claims on the government’s behalf, a critical tool because fraud is difficult to uncover without help. Although the law provides whistleblowers with a substantial reward for their time and effort if their case leads to a recovery via either a settlement or judgment, most whistleblowers are motivated by a desire to do the right thing and our government fraud law firm is proud to help them.

Recently, we’ve looked back on the success of the FCA in 2015. Today, we look ahead at what 2016 may hold in the health care fraud arena, the sector responsible for the largest share of FCA recoveries in 2015. Becker’s Hospital Review, a leading journal for the health care industry, identifies the following five trends expected to fuel FCA recoveries in the coming year[1]:

Extrapolation – Extrapolation involves examining a sample of payment claims and applying the information learned to all similar claims filed by the same organization. This is a useful shortcut in cases alleging large-scale fraud. Defendants have contested (and will likely to continue to fight) the use of extrapolation claiming it unfairly lowers the government’s burden of proof, but courts have largely ruled in the government’s favor.

January 4, 2016

A Closer Look: Health Care Fraud Recoveries in 2015

by Gregory J. Brod

In Fiscal Year 2015, the government, often with the assistance of private whistleblowers, recovered more than $3.5 billion using the False Claims Act to target companies and individuals who attempted to commit fraud and steal money from federal government programs. We took a broad look at these recoveries a couple of weeks back, today we take a narrower focus: health care fraud. We believe that looking at these cases can help people understand what sort of actions violate the FCA and encourage them to contact our whistleblowers’ law firm. As the 2015 numbers show, the FCA works and individuals can play a major role in the fight against fraud targeting Medicare, Medicaid, and other vital government health care programs.

$1.9 Billion Recovered in Health Care Fraud False Claims Act Cases in 2015

According to the Department of Justice’s press release announcing the successes under the FCA in FY2015, $1.9 billion of the $3.5 billion recovered on behalf of the federal government last year came from the health care industry. This makes the total health care fraud dollars recovered via the FCA since January 2009 nearly $16.5 billion. Importantly, these numbers are limited to federal dollars returned to federal programs. Quite often, health care fraud prosecutions include additional charges involving state programs and can include recoveries on behalf of these programs as well, especially when cases involve Medicaid which is a joint federal/state venture.

July 6, 2015

A Startling Example of Health Care Fraud Involving False Cancer Diagnoses (and a Castle!)

by Gregory J. Brod

One of the reasons we write about health care fraud is to make people aware of the true cost of these schemes. These crimes are ultimately financial in nature, with scammers stealing billions (not a typo!) each year from government programs that are already operating on strained budgets. As if stealing money that is supposed to go towards ensuring the health of some of our nation’s most deserving (including military families and seniors) isn’t bad enough, these crimes also have a direct impact on individual beneficiaries. The broad, sometimes life-threatening impact of these crimes is why we urge private citizens to join the fight against health care fraud and why we are proud to serve as a law firm for health care fraud whistleblowers.

A Scheme Founded Upon False Cancer Diagnoses and Other Lies Told by a Michigan Doctor

A case from 2014 stands out as a particularly egregious example of how scammers put individuals at risk, ignoring the duties of the health care profession and risking people’s lives for profit. The FBI’s news article paints the picture: