Wednesday, May 17, 2006

San Diego Hospital agrees to pay $21 Million Kickback Settlement

Tenet Healthcare Corporation of Dallas has agreed to pay $21 million as part of a civil settlement with the federal government over allegations of kickbacks to doctors. The settlement also requires Tenet to close or sell the hospital where the kickbacks allegedly took place, Alvarado Hospital Medical Center in San Diego, according to a story in signonsandiego.com

The settlement averts a third criminal trial over an alleged kickback scheme between 1992 and 2002 to pay doctors for referring patients to Alvarado. Two previous trials, in 2004 and 2005, ended in deadlocked juries. Click the following link to read the full story on this kickback settlement.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Business Interest try to defang Missouri Whistleblower Law

Business interests are pushing for a change in Missouri’s whistleblower law that would grant employers greater protection from lawsuits. Under the change, whistleblowers suing for wrongful termination would have to show that their companies violated the law. Under the current law, a reasonable belief that illegal activity occurred is the threshold.

According to a story in today’s editions of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the state legislature remains at odds over whether this provision should be included in a 51-page omnibus bill on employment law, and the clock is ticking on this lawmaking session. Any change in the law could have a lasting impact on how safe Missouri employees feel to report corporate misdeeds and whether companies view the state as a good place to do business. Click on this link to read the full account of the Missouri Whistleblower Legislation.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

False Claims Act Cases Against Pharma have yielded $3.5 Billion since 2001

A feature in Sunday’s Baltimore Sun chronicles the history of the federal False Claims Act and its most recent application, to fraud by pharmaceutical companies. Click the following link for the full feature on the U.S. False Claims Act.

Medco settles False Claims Action with $163 Million Payment

Medco Health Solutions, the pharmacy benefit manager, has reached a $163 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department that will end the government’s prosecution over alleged mail fraud. In a story that first appeared in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, the non-financial terms of the settlement have not yet been finalized.

The suit was based on mail-order prescriptions sent to members of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, in which two former company employees alleged that Medco “canceled prescriptions, switched prescriptions without physician consent, did not fill prescriptions completely and failed to inform physicians about adverse medication interactions,” the WSJ said.

Click the following link to read the UPI story on the Medco false claims suit settlement.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Feds target Virginia Firm that Allegedly Defrauded Medicaid for D.C.

Federal authorities have begun a criminal investigation of Maximus Inc. in the wake of a lawsuit claiming that the Reston, Virginia-based consulting giant overcharged the government tens of millions of dollars while working for the District of Columbia’s foster care agency, according to a story in today’s Washington Times.

The investigation follows a federal False Claims Act lawsuit filed in 2003 alleging that Maximus lacked proper documentation for most of the more than $30 million in Medicaid claims the company prepared for the D.C. government, starting in 1999. The suit was filed by Benjamin Turner, a fired Maximus employee who claims that the Medicaid billing was “grounded in fraud.”

Click the following link to read the full account of this alleged Medicaid fraud investigation.

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