Last week, in light of the Department of Justice’s newly-formed COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, we cautioned that COVID-related prosecutions were likely imminent. And on the heels of this DOJ task force, we are already...more
6/1/2021
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
Government Investigations ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medicare ,
Telemedicine ,
Virus Testing ,
White Collar Crimes
While COVID continues to lose its grip across America, its focus within the Department of Justice is just getting started. On Monday, the DOJ Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the formation of a COVID-19 Fraud...more
For the past two years, telemedicine companies, durable medical equipment suppliers, pharmacies, and individuals and entities that market to such entities have been at the center of DOJ gunsights. In 2019, the Department...more
4/30/2021
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Bribery ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Durable Medical Equipment ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Investigations ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Medicaid ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Fraud ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
TRICARE
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ripped away the Federal Trade Commission’s preferred method of obtaining restitution and disgorgement from bad marketplace actors, ruling that § 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act did not...more
As COVID-19 continues to ravage the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently announced its new National Rapid Response Strike Force within the Health Care Fraud Unit to investigate and prosecute fraud cases...more
12/2/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DOJ Strike Force ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physicians ,
Stark Law
As COVID-19 continues to ravage the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently announced its new National Rapid Response Strike Force within the Health Care Fraud Unit to investigate and prosecute fraud cases...more
10/2/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DOJ Strike Force ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physicians ,
Stark Law
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia has become a leader in telemedicine fraud enforcement since 2019. Yesterday’s press release by the Department of Justice, announcing a historic...more
Last week, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) updated its Manual on Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“June 2020 Guidance”), which is intended to aid prosecutors in making corporate charging decisions. Initially...more
On Thursday, AseraCare, a national hospice care provider, announced that it had settled a long-standing Medicare billing dispute with the DOJ, a case that has garnered nationwide attention in healthcare since 2008. At issue...more
3/5/2020
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Government Investigations ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hospice ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Billing Privileges ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Statistical Sampling
On January 9, 2020, the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it recovered over $3 billion from civil False Claims Act (FCA) judgments and settlements in the fiscal year ending September 30,...more
1/16/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Corruption ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Falsified Documents ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Government Investigations ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
National Institute of Health (NIH) ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physicians ,
Qui Tam ,
Scientific Research ,
South Korea ,
White Collar Crimes
On December 1, 2019, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16.1 (Rule 16.1 or the “Rule”) went into effect. With a focus on defense counsel’s ability to adequately prepare for trial, the Rule functions as a response to concerns...more
The U.S. Department of Justice released guidelines on October 8, 2019 that aim to provide federal prosecutors with more guidance on how to approach claims by white collar defendants that they are unable to pay fines or...more
In a one-two punch during the first half of September 2019, the Department of Justice confirmed that its focus on prosecuting telemedicine companies and physicians engaged in health care fraud shows no sign of slowing...more
9/24/2019
/ Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Physicians ,
Telemedicine
Since the Department of Justice filed charges in April 2019 against 24 telemedicine and durable medical equipment (“DME”) company executives and physicians for their alleged participation in a $1.2 billion healthcare fraud...more
Recently, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim announced the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division’s new policy for incentivizing corporate antitrust compliance. For the first time in DOJ history, this new policy...more
Telemedicine permits two-way, real time interactive communication between health professionals and patients. Its recent expansion has dramatically improved patient health by providing new access to health care for rural...more
7/11/2019
/ Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Investigations ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare ,
Physicians ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemedicine ,
White Collar Crimes
Last month, Polsinelli highlighted a recent update to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, which detailed how DOJ will evaluate the effectiveness of corporate compliance programs in the...more