By Jonathan Stempel
Reuters
Originally published May 24, 2013
Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc pleaded guilty on Friday to charges it used kickbacks and improper marketing to boost sales of a drug meant to treat eye pain and agreed to pay $33.5 million to settle criminal and civil liability, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The unit of eye care company Bausch & Lomb pleaded guilty to conspiracy to offer kickbacks to induce physicians to prescribe Xibrom, a drug meant to treat pain after cataract surgery, and conspiracy to promote that drug for unapproved uses, including after Lasik and glaucoma surgeries.
Ista agreed as part of a criminal settlement to a $16.63 million fine and an $1.85 million asset forfeiture. It also agreed to a $15 million civil settlement to resolve allegations that its marketing of Xibrom caused false claims to be submitted to government health care programs.
As part of the settlement, Ista will be barred from participating in Medicare and Medicaid, and Bausch & Lomb agreed to strengthen its compliance and ethics procedures.
The entire story is here.
Showing posts with label Justice Department. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justice Department. Show all posts
Monday, June 3, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Largest US Hospice Company Sued for Medicare Fraud
By Kelli Kennedy
The Associated Press/ABC News
Originally posted May 9, 2013
The Department of Justice is suing the hospice company founded by Florida's Senate president, accusing it of submitting tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicare claims for more than a decade, including while Don Gaetz was vice chairman of the board.
Vitas Hospice and Vitas Healthcare submitted claims for emergency services for patients that weren't needed, weren't provided, or were provided to patients who weren't eligible under Medicare requirements, according to the DOJ. The companies set goals for the number of crisis-care days to be billed and pressured their employees to submit more claims so it would get more revenue, the lawsuit said. The agency said Medicare payments for crisis care can be hundreds of dollars greater than typical hospice care payments.
Vitas is the largest U.S. hospice care chain, and its parent company Chemed Corp. said the claims go back to 2002, two years before it acquired the company.
The entire article is here.
The Associated Press/ABC News
Originally posted May 9, 2013
The Department of Justice is suing the hospice company founded by Florida's Senate president, accusing it of submitting tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicare claims for more than a decade, including while Don Gaetz was vice chairman of the board.
Vitas Hospice and Vitas Healthcare submitted claims for emergency services for patients that weren't needed, weren't provided, or were provided to patients who weren't eligible under Medicare requirements, according to the DOJ. The companies set goals for the number of crisis-care days to be billed and pressured their employees to submit more claims so it would get more revenue, the lawsuit said. The agency said Medicare payments for crisis care can be hundreds of dollars greater than typical hospice care payments.
Vitas is the largest U.S. hospice care chain, and its parent company Chemed Corp. said the claims go back to 2002, two years before it acquired the company.
The entire article is here.
Doctors and nurses among nearly 100 charged in $223 million Medicare fraud busts in 8 cities
By Associated Press
Originally published May 14, 2013
Nearly 100 people, including 14 doctors and nurses, were charged for their roles in separate Medicare scams that collectively billed the taxpayer-funded program for roughly $223 million in bogus charges in a massive bust spanning eight cities, federal authorities said Tuesday.
It was the latest in a string of similar announcements by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder as federal authorities crack down on fraud that’s believed to cost the program between $60 billion and $90 billion each year. Stopping Medicare’s budget from hemorrhaging that money will be key to paying for President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Sebelius and Holder partnered in 2009 to increase enforcement by allocating more money and staff and creating strike forces in fraud hot spots around the country.
The entire story is here.
Originally published May 14, 2013
Nearly 100 people, including 14 doctors and nurses, were charged for their roles in separate Medicare scams that collectively billed the taxpayer-funded program for roughly $223 million in bogus charges in a massive bust spanning eight cities, federal authorities said Tuesday.
It was the latest in a string of similar announcements by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder as federal authorities crack down on fraud that’s believed to cost the program between $60 billion and $90 billion each year. Stopping Medicare’s budget from hemorrhaging that money will be key to paying for President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Sebelius and Holder partnered in 2009 to increase enforcement by allocating more money and staff and creating strike forces in fraud hot spots around the country.
The entire story is here.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Justice Dept. recovers record $5 billion under False Claims Act
By Peter Finn
The Washington Post
Originally published: December 4, 2012
The Justice Department’s civil division recovered a record $5 billion in the past fiscal year from companies that defrauded taxpayers, with much of the abuse occurring in the health-care and mortgage industries.
The department pursued settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act, which Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West described Tuesday as “quite simply, the most powerful tool we have to deter and redress fraud.”
“Vigorous enforcement of the act allows us to protect not only taxpayer dollars but also the integrity of important government programs on which so many Americans rely,” West said.
The amount of money recovered in 2012 is up from $3.2 billion last year, and two-thirds of it was secured through the act’s whistleblower provisions.
“Many of these cases would not be possible without the whistleblowers . . . who have come forward to report fraud, often at great personal risk,” said Stuart Delery, the principal deputy assistant attorney general for the civil division.
The entire story is here.
The Washington Post
Originally published: December 4, 2012
The Justice Department’s civil division recovered a record $5 billion in the past fiscal year from companies that defrauded taxpayers, with much of the abuse occurring in the health-care and mortgage industries.
The department pursued settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act, which Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West described Tuesday as “quite simply, the most powerful tool we have to deter and redress fraud.”
“Vigorous enforcement of the act allows us to protect not only taxpayer dollars but also the integrity of important government programs on which so many Americans rely,” West said.
The amount of money recovered in 2012 is up from $3.2 billion last year, and two-thirds of it was secured through the act’s whistleblower provisions.
“Many of these cases would not be possible without the whistleblowers . . . who have come forward to report fraud, often at great personal risk,” said Stuart Delery, the principal deputy assistant attorney general for the civil division.
The entire story is here.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
91 Are Charged With Fraud, Billing Millions to Medicare
By REUTERS
Originally published October 4, 2012
Ninety-one people including doctors, nurses and other medical professionals were charged criminally after an investigation of Medicare fraud that involved $430 million in false billing in seven cities, officials said on Thursday.
It was the government’s second big raid in recent months after a similar investigation in May involving $452 million in possible fraud in Medicare, the health program for the elderly and disabled.
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The investigation is part of an effort by the Obama administration to find health care savings.
The entire story is here.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Pfizer Settles U.S. Charges of Bribing Doctors Abroad
By Katie Thomas
The New York Times
Originally published August 7, 2012
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Tuesday that it had reached a $45 million settlement with Pfizer to resolve charges that subsidiaries of Pfizer and Wyeth, which it acquired in 2009, bribed overseas doctors and other health care workers to increase sales of their drugs.
At the same time, the Justice Department announced that another subsidiary, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, had agreed to pay a $15 million penalty to settle similar charges.
The allegations, which date to 2001 and in the case of Wyeth are said to have continued after Pfizer’s acquisition of the company, involve violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids paying bribes to government officials. In many countries, doctors are government employees.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
U.S. Charges 107 With Defrauding Medicare
By Louise Radnofsky
Wall Street Journal
Originally published on May 2, 2012
Federal officials said Wednesday they had charged 107 people across the country in recent days for allegedly running a string of unrelated Medicare fraud schemes involving a total of $452 million in false claims.
Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that charges were being brought against defendants in seven cities, including doctors and nurses, for seeking to defraud the federal health program for the elderly and disabled. At least 83 of the defendants were arrested Wednesday morning, officials said.
Among those arrested were seven people in Baton Rouge, La., who were accused of recruiting elderly, mentally ill and drug-addicted patients from nursing homes and homeless shelters.
The entire story is here.
Wall Street Journal
Originally published on May 2, 2012
Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that charges were being brought against defendants in seven cities, including doctors and nurses, for seeking to defraud the federal health program for the elderly and disabled. At least 83 of the defendants were arrested Wednesday morning, officials said.
Among those arrested were seven people in Baton Rouge, La., who were accused of recruiting elderly, mentally ill and drug-addicted patients from nursing homes and homeless shelters.
The entire story is here.
Monday, November 14, 2011
12 Are Charged in Medicare Fraud Schemes Said to Cost $95 Million
By Kirk Semple
The New York Times
City Room
Originally published November 2, 2011
Federal agents swarmed several medical clinics and homes in New York City on Wednesday, arresting 10 people on charges of running Medicare fraud schemes that bilked the government out of $95 million, federal officials said.
Another defendant charged in one of the schemes surrendered later to the authorities and a 12th defendant was still at large on Wednesday afternoon, the officials said.
The defendants included three medical doctors, a doctor of osteopathy and a chiropractor, the United States Department of Justice said in a news release.
The cases are part of an aggressive campaign by the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to combat the escalating problem of health care fraud. In 2007, a special team was formed to combat fraud in Medicare, the federal program that helps provide health care for older people.
The entire story can be read here.
The New York Times
City Room
Originally published November 2, 2011
Another defendant charged in one of the schemes surrendered later to the authorities and a 12th defendant was still at large on Wednesday afternoon, the officials said.
The defendants included three medical doctors, a doctor of osteopathy and a chiropractor, the United States Department of Justice said in a news release.
The cases are part of an aggressive campaign by the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to combat the escalating problem of health care fraud. In 2007, a special team was formed to combat fraud in Medicare, the federal program that helps provide health care for older people.
The entire story can be read here.
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