The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Trenton, NJ announced on November 22 that primary care physician Yitzchok “Barry” Kurtzer of Monsey, NY, and his wife pleaded guilty to soliciting and receiving kickbacks and bribes in exchange...more
New York State Attorney General Letitia James recently announced that the owner and manager of Santiago Pharmacy in Flushing, Queens, were indicted for paying kickbacks to Medicaid recipients in exchange for filling their HIV...more
To celebrate the opening of Rivkin Radler’s first Florida office, we’ll cover some recent Florida frauds. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on April 20 that two Miami residents, Dean Zusmer and Lawrence...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on January 20 that DePuy Synthes, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, agreed to pay $9.75 million to resolve allegations that it entered into a kickback scheme with an unnamed...more
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut announced on November 3 that Ananthakumar Thillainathan, a physician with offices in Stratford and Milford, pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud and federal kickback...more
Federal and state enforcement activity involving pharmacy fraud tops the list of categories in this edition of Rivkin Rounds’ Fraud Week. We’ll list just a sampling of cases....more
10/28/2022
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Bribery ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Price Inflation ,
Telemarketing
Home health-related fraud and dentists behaving badly (see this week’s earlier posts) have both been notable recent trends, but the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been even busier lately cracking down on fraud involving...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on October 18 that Oklahoma-based Carter Healthcare LLC and its affiliates, plus two executives, agreed to pay a total of over $30 million to resolve two separate qui tam cases....more
On October 7, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced that a former physician pleaded guilty to conspiring to wrongfully disclose patients’ protected health information to a pharmaceutical sales...more
On August 23, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Dallas-based optical lens manufacturer Essilor International and its affiliates agreed to pay $16.4 million to settle alleged violations of the federal Anti-Kickback...more
If our most recent Fraud Week post (NY Chiropractor Billed for Non-Existent Acupuncture Services) didn’t already drive home the point, it is worth emphasizing that billing insurers for items or services that weren’t actually...more
8/26/2022
/ Bribery ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare ,
Nurse Practitioners ,
Telemarketing ,
Wire Fraud
Rivkin Rounds’ first annual Fraud Week kicks off with kickbacks. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that the owner of Boerne Drug in Boerne, Texas was indicted on conspiracy charges for his role in an...more
On July 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert to caution healthcare practitioners who may wish to enter into arrangements with telehealth...more
7/27/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Billing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
OIG ,
Physicians ,
Telehealth ,
Unnecessary Medical Procedures
On April 20, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced criminal charges against 21 people across the country for COVID-19-related frauds. The defendants are accused of over $149 million in false billings to federal...more
4/28/2022
/ CARES Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Counterfeiting ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Billing ,
Federal Funding ,
Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare ,
National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) ,
Vaccinations
On June 16, Jeffrey Goldstein, a former Manhattan physician, was sentenced to 57 months in prison for taking $196,000 in kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics, a defunct Arizona-based opioid manufacturer. Goldstein pled guilty to...more
On May 26, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced criminal charges against 14 defendants in six states for participation in healthcare fraud schemes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The coordinated takedown involved...more
5/27/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Billing ,
Fraud ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Laboratories ,
Medicare ,
Misappropriation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Provider Relief Fund ,
Telehealth
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on January 28 that athenahealth Inc., a Massachusetts-based electronic health records (EHR) technology vendor, has agreed to pay $18.25 million to resolve allegations that it...more
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on November 20 that Doctor’s Choice Home Care, Inc. agreed to pay $3,856,000 to resolve allegations that the agency paid illegal kickbacks to physicians for referring patients. The...more
Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. is in the crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on two separate matters. On August 18, the DOJ announced that it filed a lawsuit against Teva and an affiliate, Teva Neuroscience...more
8/27/2020
/ Co-payments ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FBI ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Price-Fixing ,
Private Foundations ,
Settlement