On December 14, 2022, the DOJ announced that a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida convicted a Georgia man for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting over $463 million in genetic and other laboratory tests that patients did not need and that were procured through the payment of kickbacks.
On December 15, 2022, the DOJ announced that Ocenture LLC, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and its subsidiary, Carelumina LLC, agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations* they submitted false claims to Medicare by paying and receiving kickbacks in connection with genetic testing samples.
November 7, 2022 (Tampa, FL). The DOJ announced that a former Sarasota physician was sentenced to three years and six months in federal prison for conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks and bribes. Additionally, the former physician was ordered to forfeit $278,900, the proceeds of his offenses. On May 24, 2022, a federal jury found the former physician and another, of conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks and bribes, in the form of speaker fees, in return for prescribing the fentanyl spray, Subsys.
On November 7, 2022 (Tampa, FL), the DOJ announced that a Pompano Beach woman was sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and for making a false statement in a matter involving a federal health care benefit program. As part of her sentence, the court ordered her to pay approximately $12 million to the affected government health programs and an insurance company, which obligation is joint and several with other coconspirators.
Tuesday, December 6, 2022, Miami. The USAO – Florida Southern, announced that nine Florida residents were arrested this morning by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after being charged by a federal grand jury in Miami with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The fraud scheme allegedly involved tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent health care billing by 30 South Florida physical therapy clinics. The FBI Miami Field Office, investigated the case.
On September 2, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Bayer Corporation, and its related entities, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc., Bayer HealthCare LLC and Bayer AG (collectively “Bayer”) agreed to pay $40 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act in connection with the drugs Trasylol, Avelox and Baycol. The Settlement Agreement can be found here. According to the DOJ, the settlement arose from two whistleblower lawsuits. The cases are captioned United States ex rel. Simpson v. Bayer Corp. Civ. No. 05-cv-3895 (D.N.J.), and United States… Read More »Bayer to Pay $40 Million to Resolve Alleged Use of Kickbacks and False Statements
The Department of Justice announced that it obtained more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021. This is the largest annual total in False Claims Act history, and the largest since 2014. The DOJ’s Fraud Statistics Overview can be found HERE. Once again, the leading source of the DOJ’s FCA settlements and judgments was attributable to matters involving the health care industry – over $5 billion… Read More »DOJ’s False Claims Act Civil Case Settlements and Judgments Exceed $5.6 Billion in Fiscal Year 2021 (Over $5 Billion Attributable to the Health Care Industry)
On January 21, the DOJ announced it had filed a civil complaint seeking to permanently enjoin the owner of a San Antonio-area pharmacy from unlawfully dispensing opioids and other controlled substances. A copy of the Complaint can be found HERE. A copy of the Motion for Preliminary Injunction can be found below. The United States has alleged that Defendants fueled and profited from the opioid epidemic by repeatedly dispensing powerful opioids prone to abuse in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). According to the… Read More »Justice Department Seeks Permanent Injunction Against San Antonio-Area Pharmacist for Controlled Substances Act Violations
On January 27, 2022, the DOJ announced that the United States filed a civil lawsuit against a Philadelphia-based pharmacy and pharmacist. The Complaint can be found below. The United States alleges that this civil lawsuit was brought to hold the pharmacy and its then-owner/pharmacist accountable for the illegal dispensing of controlled substances, including opioids, and fraud on Medicare and other federal health care programs. According to the Complaint, the pharmacy is alleged to have been the top retail pharmacy purchaser of oxycodone in the entire… Read More »U.S. Attorney’s Office Files Suit Against Philadelphia Pharmacy and Pharmacist for Illegally Dispensing Opioids and Health Care Fraud
The Department of Justice announced three pharmaceutical manufacturers, Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Sandoz Inc. and Apotex Corporation, have agreed to pay a total of $447.2 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act arising from conspiracies to fix the price of various generic drugs. These conspiracies allegedly resulted in higher drug prices for federal health care programs and beneficiaries according to the Justice Department. Copies of the civil Settlement Agreements can be found here: (1) Sandoz Executed Settlement Agreement; (2) Apotex Executed Settlement… Read More »Three Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Agreed to Pay a Total of $447.2 Million to Resolve Alleged False Claims Act Violations for Price-Fixing of Generic Drugs