The Physician Self-Referral Law — known as the “Stark Law” — broadly prohibits physicians from profiting from self-referrals for “designated health services” (DHS) payable by Medicare or Medicaid. For example, the Stark Law...more
2/13/2024
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Compensation ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Liability ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Physicians ,
Stark Law
STATISTICAL TRENDS IN FALSE CLAIMS ACT LITIGATION -
FCA case activity for 2021 reveals seemingly contrary trends. For the federal fiscal year (FY) that ended September 30, 2021, the DOJ annual report on FCA enforcement...more
2/11/2022
/ Clinical Trials ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Qui Tam ,
Telehealth
The Department of Justice announced in a February 1, 2022 press release (Press Release) that it obtained more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims in the fiscal year...more
2/3/2022
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Appeals ,
CARES Act ,
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicaid ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Opioid ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Settlement ,
TRICARE ,
Whistleblowers
In the midst of the pandemic emergency, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a stern warning about in-person educational programs for health care professionals (HCPs), known as...more
11/30/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud Alerts ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Life Sciences ,
Medical Devices ,
OIG ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Remuneration ,
Speaker Programs
On September 9, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $50 million settlement with Wheeling Hospital, Inc. of West Virginia to resolve False Claims Act allegations that Wheeling Hospital violated the Anti-Kickback...more
9/16/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Integrity Agreement ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hospitals ,
Patient Referrals ,
Physicians ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Stark Law
As many of our readers know, the AseraCare case was closely watched over the last several years because of its significance to efforts by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to allege that submission of claims for services...more
As discussed in our article recently published by Law360, 2019 brought yet another year of robust health care enforcement activity, and the False Claims Act (FCA) remains the government’s most powerful civil health care...more
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued its long-awaited and closely watched decision in United States v. AseraCare Inc.. The court ruled that a claim cannot be deemed false under the False Claims...more
9/12/2019
/ Defense Strategies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hospice ,
Medical Necessity ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Physicians ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Remand ,
Sua Sponte
As in years past, the False Claims Act (FCA) remained a powerful health care enforcement tool in 2018, and FCA investigations and litigation persisted, fueled mainly by hundreds of lawsuits filed annually by relators,...more
1/16/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Gilead Sciences Inc v United States ex rel Campie ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Solicitor General ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar
Last year, as we previously discussed, there were two significant Department of Justice (DOJ) policy developments that are applicable to False Claims Act (FCA) litigation: (1) the “Granston Memo” (issued by DOJ Civil Fraud...more
1/14/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hospitals ,
Kickbacks ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators
Along with most of us, last January DOJ set its own goals for 2018: new policies related to False Claims Act (“FCA”) enforcement. One such “resolution” for 2018 was the DOJ Civil Fraud section’s instruction to its attorneys...more
In a three-sentence order issued on October 29th, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to grant a Request for Rehearing in the closely watched Polukoff case. One of the questions raised in the Request was whether, by...more
In a closely watched False Claims Act (“FCA”) case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has an unreviewable right to object to a proposed settlement agreement between a relator...more
On February 26, 2016, a federal jury in Texas returned not guilty verdicts with respect to charges brought against Vascular Solutions Inc. (“VSI”) and its CEO by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), dealing a decisive blow...more
As has been widely discussed, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (‘‘CMS’’) Feb. 12 published the long-awaited final rule governing the return of Medicare Part A and Part B overpayments within 60 days (the...more
2015 was a year of transition for the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), with the installation of a new Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and several other high-level officials. In January 2015, Andrew Weissmann...more
1/12/2016
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
HEAT ,
Medicare Fraud Strike Force ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Securities Fraud ,
Stark Law ,
Warner Chilcott ,
Yates Memorandum
Late last week DOJ announced that in FY2015 it obtained more than $3.5 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving allegations of false claims against the government. Once again, health care fraud...more
On March 19, 2015, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued their annual Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control (HCFAC) Program report highlighting that the HCFAC Program obtained...more