PROGENITY, INC. (“PROGENITY”), a San Diego-based biotechnology company that provides molecular and diagnostic tests agreed to a $49 million settlement for fraudulent billing and kickback practices. The settlement resolves claims that the biotechnology company fraudulently billed federal healthcare programs for prenatal tests and provided kickbacks to physicians to persuade them to order PROGENITY tests for […]
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Whistleblowers Share $8 Million False Claims Act Settlement of Unpaid Import Duties Allegations Two whistleblowers receive $1.48 million as part of a recent settlement to resolve False Claims Act allegations between a vehicle parts supplier and the government. The False Claims Act allows private parties to sue on behalf of the U.S. government and receive […]
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that a major pharmaceutical company, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, agreed to pay $642 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that Novartis violated the False Claims Act (FCA). That lawsuit was initially filed by a whistleblower under the “qui tam” provision of the FCA, which allows a private citizen to […]
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Williams Brothers Construction Inc. (WBCI) from Peoria Heights, Illinois, agreed to pay $1 million to settle claims that the company violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting themselves as a smaller, disadvantaged business to obtain program grants for a federally-funded construction contract. The settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the Civil Division, […]
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Saber Healthcare Group, LLC and other entities have agreed to pay the U.S. government a settlement of $10 million to resolve alleged “false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services that were not reasonable, necessary, or skilled,” the Justice Department reported. Saber Healthcare offered patients multiple levels of Rehabilitation Therapy. The highest level of prescribed […]
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Upstate New York pharmaceutical companies FPR Specialty Pharmacy (now defunct) and Mead Square Pharmacy, along with their owners, agreed to pay $426,000 to settle fraudulent claims and kickback allegations brought forth by a whistleblower. According to the U.S. government, the pharmacies submitted fraudulent claims for reimbursement to federal healthcare programs for compounded prescription drugs in […]
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Encore Rehabilitation Services LLC, a contract therapy company based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, agreed to pay $4.03 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that the company knowingly provided unnecessary Medicare services to patients in three Michigan facilities. The settlement resolves allegations that Encore provided unreasonable, unnecessary, or unskilled rehabilitation therapy and recorded individual therapy […]
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Guardian Elder Care Holdings and its related entities recently paid $15.4 million to settle allegations of Medicare fraud. The U.S Department of Justice, after a government investigation, alleged that the company committed Medicare fraud by overbilling the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and Medicare for unnecessary rehabilitation therapy services. Many companies specializing in elder care […]
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Dr. William Choi and three distributors of spinal equipment owned by him, paid $2.35 million to resolve allegations that the Colorado neurosurgeon received illegal payments by using spinal implant equipment when performing surgery on his Medicare and Medicaid patients. The Anti-Kickback Statute of the False Claims Act makes it unlawful for a doctor to receive […]
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A family physician and his practice located in Knoxville, Tennessee, agreed to pay $285,000 to resolve allegations of improper billing to government healthcare programs in violation of the False Claims Act. Dr. Chang-Wen Chen and his practice, Chang-Wen Chen, M.D., P.C., allegedly submitted billings at inflated rates to Medicare, TennCare and TRICARE from 2013 through […]
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