Medical Device Legal News with Sam Bernstein: Episode 14
The Justice Insiders: FIFA Corruption Trial – Will the Feds Score Another Goal?
Rob DeConti on the Latest Guidance and Insights from the OIG at HHS
The following is a summary of selected federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports of fraud and abuse enforcement activity across the country. The enforcement actions reported...more
Owner of Telemedicine Companies Settles $110 Million Health Care Fraud Claim - Steven Richardson, the owner of telemedicine companies Expansion Media, LLC and Hybrid Management Group LLC, agreed to settle allegations that...more
There have been several noteworthy False Claims Act (FCA) settlements in the second quarter of 2023. Four of these settlements have come in over $20 million. This post summarizes key settlements of interest....more
In 2020, we published an eAlert titled “Telehealth in a Changing World - Trending Risks and How to Minimize Potential Exposure.” As we predicted would happen, the government has become acutely focused on telehealth fraud....more
If our most recent Fraud Week post (NY Chiropractor Billed for Non-Existent Acupuncture Services) didn’t already drive home the point, it is worth emphasizing that billing insurers for items or services that weren’t actually...more
On July 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert to caution healthcare practitioners who may wish to enter into arrangements with telehealth...more
Volumes have been written about the False Claims Act as a tool to pursue fraud against the government in circumstances where the defendant has allegedly made false statements to receive money from the government. For...more
On February 1, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the second-largest annual total recoveries in the history of the False Claims Act (FCA)—$5.6 billion—for FY 2021 (October 2020 – September 2021)...more
On November 4, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the conviction of several South Florida addiction treatment facility operators following a seven-week trial. ...more
Alere Inc. and Alere San Diego Inc. (collectively “Alere”) have come under fire recently by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and other government agencies, agreeing to settle several rounds of accusations of False...more
On May 26, 2021, DOJ announced a series of coordinated law enforcement actions against 14 defendants across seven federal districts for alleged participation in fraudulent health care schemes that, according to the...more
DOJ announced a False Claims Act settlement with Universal Health (“UHS”) and related companies for $122 million for billing for medically unnecessary inpatient behavioral health services, failing to provide adequate services...more
In the DOJ’s first-ever criminal action against an electronic health records vendor, San Francisco-based Practice Fusion Inc. agreed to pay $145 million to resolve allegations that it received kickbacks from pharmaceutical...more
On November 26, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $26.67 million settlement with a laboratory testing corporation, Boston Heart Diagnostics Corporation (Boston Heart). The settlement resolves allegations of...more
Kickback Allegations Settled for $20.25 Million - Sanford Health, Sanford Medical Center, and Sanford Clinic (collectively, Sanford), a South Dakota health system, will pay $20.25 million to settle allegations that they...more
The Justice Department, in coordination with HHS-OIG and the FBI recently announced the arrest and prosecution of 35 individuals for a massive genetic testing fraud scheme involving dozens of telemedicine companies and cancer...more
• A recent federal jury verdict in Dallas affirms the U.S. Department of Justice's determination to extend federal prosecutions to healthcare arrangements involving commercial payers by utilizing the federal Travel Act, which...more
Healthcare Management Associates (HMA) settled criminal and civil charges with the Justice Department for illegal fraud and kickback schemes. HMA billed federal government healthcare programs for inpatient services that...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced two significant False Claims Act (FCA) settlements in recent days that signal continued close government scrutiny of billing, coding and referral practices at hospitals....more
Operating in the long term care (LTC) industry is undoubtedly challenging. On top of limited reimbursement from government payors, there are stringent regulations, surveys and other forms of regulatory scrutiny, malpractice...more
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force initiated its largest ever healthcare enforcement action, charging 412 defendants in July 2017 with approximately $1.3 billion in fraudulent claims. The Strike Force consists of teams that...more
The United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Middle District of Florida (USAO-MDFL) prosecuted several civil health care fraud matters in 2016 and issued related press releases. A review of the USAO-MDFL’s criminal and...more
The US Department of Justice announced that Khaled Elbeblaswy, the former owner and manager three Miami-area home health agencies, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $36.4 million in restitution for his...more