On December 29, 2011, the Department of Justice announced yet another win for taxpayers nationwide. GE Healthcare Inc., a global provider of medical technologies and pharmaceuticals, has paid the government 30 million dollars to settle allegations in a False Claims Act lawsuit brought against Amersham Health Inc., a company GE Healthcare acquired.
Amersham was accused of submitting false claims to Medicare between 2000 and 2003 over a radiopharmaceutical called Myoview, which is used in the cardiology field. Due to these alleged false claims, Medicare paid inflated rates for Myoview. Additionally, Amersham was accused of tampering with Myoview in order to increase the number of doses available per vial, thus leading to additional price inflation. It is selfish and wrong for healthcare companies to take advantage of the Medicare system and of taxpayers’ hard earned dollars through fraud and abuse. Settlements like this one help to retrieve some money for the American people and will hopefully discourage companies thinking about cheating Government healthcare programs.
Amersham’s allegedly deceitful actions were brought to the attention of the Government by James Wagel. Under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, Mr. Wagel helped to begin this six year investigation that ultimately resulted in a substantial recovery by the Government. Mr. Wagel will receive $5.1 million as his relator’s share from the settlement.
Since 2009, the US Government has recovered over $8.6 billion from fraud cases; however, fraud is still happening daily around us. If you know of fraud being committed, take efforts to stop it by contacting the experienced attorneys at Tycko & Zavareei today!