Nov 2016 – Qui Tam lawsuit taken up by the US (DOJ) – False Claims Act litigation against Biocompatibles Inc for mislabeling pharmaceutical product. “The civil settlement with Biocompatibles resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The civil lawsuit was filed in the Western District of Texas and is captioned United States ex rel. Ryan Bliss v. Biocompatibles, Inc., et al. As part of today’s resolution, Bliss will receive approximately $5.1 million from the civil settlement.”
Oct 2016 – Qui Tam lawsuit taken up by the US (DOJ) – ultimately they resolved the civil suit but also instituted criminal proceedings, owing to the seriousness of the allegations. So that’s quite interesting. The offenders in this case are, a major hospital chain, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, and two of its subsidiaries. “Tenet cheated the Medicaid system by paying bribes and kickbacks to a pre-natal clinic to unlawfully refer over 20,000 Medicaid patients to the hospitals. In so doing, they exploited some of the most vulnerable members of our community and took advantage of a payment system designed to ensure that underprivileged patients have choices in receiving care. ” The matter resolved via a civil settlement (concluding the qui tam litigation) and a deferred prosecution agreement. In all, the settlement requires the companies to pay $513 million, of which the whistleblower will receive $84.43 million.
Oct 2016 – Qui Tam lawsuit taken up by the US (DOJ) – civil settlement of fraud allegations – alleged that three orthopaedic clinics billed health care programs for “reimported” products, which was not permitted – “The allegations resolved by the settlement were first raised in a lawsuit filed against the clinics under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act by a Senior Musculoskeletal Specialty Manager in the Biosurgery Division of Sanofi S.A., which manufactures Synvisc. The Act allows private citizens with knowledge of fraud to bring civil actions on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery. The whistleblower in this matter will receive approximately $430,000 of the recovery proceeds.” Settlement figure $2.39 million.
Aug 2016 – Qui Tam lawsuit taken up by the USA (DOJ) and State of New York against St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Centre, alleging “it violated the federal and New York False Claims Acts by presenting false claims for payment to the state Medicaid program for mental health services rendered by unqualified staff.” The matter resolved in a $3.2M settlement, with admissions.
Aug 2016 – Qui Tam lawsuit taken up by the US Attorney’s office for the District of Colombia, alleging that two companies with contracts with the US government to ship humanitarian aid around the world charged contractors higher stevedoring charges than their contracts allowed, and passed those costs on to the government. The matter resolved out-of-court for just over $1M. “The allegations resolved by this settlement were initially brought in a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by John Raggio, a shipping contractor who allegedly received an invoice from Jacintoport that contained the excessive stevedoring charge. Under the Act’s qui tam provisions, a private citizen, known as a “relator,” can sue on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. The United States is permitted to intervene in the lawsuit, as it did here. Raggio will receive $215,000. Earlier today, the government requested that the case be dismissed.” No admissions.