This past week, the Department of Justice announced a $7.3 million settlement it reached with U.S. Renal Care, an owner and operator of outpatient dialysis facilities throughout the United States. The settlement resulted from a qui-tam lawsuit filed in June 2008, which accused the Dialysis Corporation of America (DCA), acquired by U.S. Renal Care in June 2010, of violating the False Claims Act.
According to the lawsuit, DCA violated the Act by submitting false claims to the Medicare program for the use of Epogen, an intravenous medication that is used to treat anemia afflicting patients with end-stage renal disease. DCA allegedly billed Medicare for more Epogen than medical personnel actually administered to dialysis patients. The complaint brought against DCA represents the government’s ongoing battle against health care fraud.
The whistleblower in this case, Laura Davis, took advantage of provisions of the False Claims Act that allow private citizens with knowledge of fraud to bring civil actions on behalf of the U.S. government and, consequently, receive a percentage of the settlement. Working as a nurse in one of DCA’s facilities, Ms. Davis gained direct and independent knowledge of fraudulent practices. She will receive $1,314,000 from the settlement agreement as a reward for disclosing DCA’s allegedly fraudulent practices to the Government.
If you have information about healthcare fraud, do not hesitate to act. For more information on how to find a qui tam law firm to represent you, please call (202) 973-0900 or fill out a Confidential Case Evaluation form.