On July 21, 2011, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced that Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Steven T. Kessel upheld OIG’s exclusion of Michael D. Dinkel from participation in all Federal health care programs under section 1128(b)(7) of the Social Security Act for a period of […]
On July 6, 2011, Dr. Leonard Langman, a neurologist who owned and operated a Brooklyn, N.Y. medical clinic, pled guilty to one count of health care fraud for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare, the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board (NYS-WCB), […]
On June 29, 2011, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling on the health reform law’s requirement that nearly all Americans buy insurance. The three-judge panel, including two Republican nominees, ruled 2-1 in favor of the mandate. The original suit was brought by the Thomas More Law Center, which argued that […]
A Florida radiology clinic, Midtown Imaging LLC, and its former owners–Midtown Imaging PA and PBC Medical Imaging–have agreed to pay $3 million to settle allegations that Midtown Imaging LLC submitted false claims to Medicare between 2000 and 2008. The allegations arose from Midtown Imaging LLC’s lease and professional services agreements with referral sources that were […]
Gentiva Health Services, Inc. (Gentiva)–one of the largest providers of home health services in the world–has settled with the government for $12.5 million. The settlement came after allegations that it fraudulently billed Medicare for non-Medicare-covered costs. According to the Department of Justice Press Release, “[a]n investigation established that, through its annual submission of cost reports […]
On April 15, CVS Pharmacy, Inc. agreed to pay the United States and 10 states $17.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations related to Medicaid billings for prescription drugs. These allegations were introduced to the government by a qui tam whistleblower. According to the Department of Justice press release, The settlement resolves allegations that […]
On March 15, 2011, US Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius and Inspector General Daniel Levinson visited Detroit to participate in the fifth regional health care fraud prevention summit. These summits bring together a wide array of federal, state and local partners, beneficiaries, providers and other interested parties […]
According to the Associated Press (March 6, 2011), an Indiana pharmacist, John D. Love (owner of the Terre Haute Prescription Shop) “faces a possible 10-year prison sentence if convicted of health care fraud and money laundering in a scheme that netted him more than $3.57 million, federal prosecutors say.” The amount of the case qualifies […]
South Florida has been called the “national epicenter” for the illegal dispensing of prescription drugs. Law enforcement officials have targeted South Florida for quite some time, with February 23 being no exception. On February 23, law enforcement officials and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents raided six pain clinics accused of illegally dispensing prescription drugs, arresting […]
On Wednesday, February 16, the House Judiciary Committee approved a medical liability reform bill that would limit a plaintiff’s non-economic damages to $250,000. This vote comes at a time when tort reform has been in the spotlight as President Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget proposal included $250 million in grants over the next three years to […]
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