The U.S. Department of Justice announced on November 20 that Doctor’s Choice Home Care, Inc. agreed to pay $3,856,000 to resolve allegations that the agency paid illegal kickbacks to physicians for referring patients. The agency will pay an additional $675,000 to resolve separate allegations that its employees pressured clinical personnel to increase the number of

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on October 29 that Medtronic USA Inc. agreed to pay $8.1 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) and federal Anti-Kickback Statute by paying kickbacks to a South Dakota neurosurgeon to use Medtronic’s medical devices. Medtronic will pay an additional $1.11 million for

An article in the November issue of Healthcare Risk Management, “$50 Million Stark Settlement Shows Risk of Violation, Whistleblowers,” discussed Wheeling Hospital’s $50 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that resolved a whistleblower complaint filed in 2017 by a former executive of the hospital. Rivkin Radler’s Jeff Kaiser was quoted in the

On October 2, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Phamatech, Inc. and its CEO have agreed to pay $3,043,484 to settle alleged False Claims Act (FCA) allegations. San Diego-based Phamatech, a medical technology company that manufactures diagnostic devices and provides laboratory testing, allegedly submitted false claims to Medicare for drug-testing services.

In addition

On September 23, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. agreed to pay $97 million to resolve claims that it illegally used a foundation as a conduit to pay the copays of thousands of Medicare patients taking Gilead’s pulmonary arterial hypertension drug Letairis. In addition to the False Claims Act

In United States ex rel. Cimznhca, LLC v. UCB, Inc., the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in on a Circuit Court of Appeals dispute over the correct standard to apply to the government’s decision to dismiss a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act (FCA). The authority of the government to dismiss an action,

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on August 27 that New Jersey-based Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas Inc. agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve allegations that its former subsidiary, Viztek LLC, misrepresented the capabilities of its electronic health records (EHR) software, which caused users of the software to file false claims with the federal government.

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. is in the crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on two separate matters. On August 18, the DOJ announced that it filed a lawsuit against Teva and an affiliate, Teva Neuroscience Inc., under the False Claims Act for violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. The suit alleges that the

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have released the 2019 annual report for their Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program. The government recovered almost $3.6 billion, of which about $2.5 billion was returned to the Medicare trust fund. The recoveries included judgments and settlements from fraud

Eric Fader, Jeff Kaiser, Chris Kutner, Ada Kozicz and Ben Malerba are authors of the newly released book, “The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Safe Harbors: A Practical Guide.”

Published by the American Bar Association, the book covers all safe harbors currently in place, as well as the interplay between the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and other