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Kickbacks

March 31, 2021 – The Sixth Circuit, Addressing an Issue of First Impression, Held that the FCA’s Anti-Retaliation Provision Protects Former Employees Alleging Post-Termination Retaliation

Whistleblower, David Felten, M.D., Ph.D. (“Felten”), initially filed his qui tam complaint on August 30, 2010, alleging his then-employer, William Beaumont Hospital (the “Hospital”) was violating the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Michigan Medicaid False Claims Act. Felton alleged that the Hospital was paying kickbacks to physicians and physicians’ groups in exchange for referrals of Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE patients. Felten also alleged that the Hospital retaliated against him in violation of the FCA’s anti-retaliation provision and Michigan Law, by threatening and marginalizing him… Read More »March 31, 2021 – The Sixth Circuit, Addressing an Issue of First Impression, Held that the FCA’s Anti-Retaliation Provision Protects Former Employees Alleging Post-Termination Retaliation

DOJ Announces Two South Florida Former Owners of a Telemarketing Company Agreed to Pay at Least $4M to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

On March 16, 2021, the DOJ issued a Press Release announcing two South Florida men (residents of Gulf Stream and Fort Lauderdale) have agreed to collectively pay at least $4 million in a civil settlement to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by engaging in schemes to generate prescriptions for compounded drugs and refer those prescriptions to pharmacies in exchange for illegal kickbacks. The allegations maintain that many of those prescriptions were billed to TRICARE, the federal health care program providing insurance… Read More »DOJ Announces Two South Florida Former Owners of a Telemarketing Company Agreed to Pay at Least $4M to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

Doctor Admits to Kickback and Bribery Schemes Referring to Payments Received as “Vigs.”

On March 5, 2021, the DOJ reported that a Pennsylvania doctor admitted to participating in two conspiracies to receive bribes and kickbacks in exchange for ordering genetic tests. The doctor pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with two counts of conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(1)(A). More specifically, the doctor was accepting cash kickbacks and bribes in exchange for collecting DNA samples from Medicare patients and sending them for genetic tests to clinical laboratories. The Information is attached here: