Whistleblower Lawsuit Ends in $25M Price-Fixing Settlement

A medical device sales representative who filed the False Claims Act lawsuit received a $1.37 million whistleblower award. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) orthopedics and neurosurgery medical device unit DePuy Synthes has agreed to pay $9.75 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by providing illegal kickbacks to an orthopedic surgeon as an incentive for using its products. According to the

The fraud was discovered by a medical office manager who filed a whistleblower lawsuit under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. A Georgia ophthalmologist has agreed to pay $1.85 million to settle allegations she violated the False Claims Act by fraudulently billing Medicare for medically unnecessary cataract surgeries and diagnostic tests as well as medical procedures she never performed.

The fraud was exposed by two former company executives who filed a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act. They will share a whistleblower award of $8.3 million. Pennsylvania-based cardiac monitoring company BioTelemetry, Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAT) and its subsidiary CardioNet LLC have agreed to pay nearly $45 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing federal healthcare programs for services performed by cardiovascular technicians located outside the

The fraud was exposed by a former ModMed executive who filed a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act. He will receive a $9 million whistleblower award. Florida-based electronic health records firm Modernizing Medicine has paid $45 Million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by paying and receiving kickbacks in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.  According to the U.S. Department of

The lawsuit is part of an effort by the U.S. Justice Department to investigate and litigate fraudulent diagnosis-coding practices by Medicare Advantage (Part C) insurers  The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that it has sued health insurance company Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI), alleging that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false and invalid diagnosis codes to artificially inflate

The settlement follows Cardinal Health’s payment of $13M to resolve related False Claims Act allegations earlier this year A Florida medical group has paid $130,000 to resolve allegations it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and False Claims Act by knowingly taking illegal kickbacks from pharmaceutical distributor Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH).  The settlement, by the U.S. Department of Justice with Southeast Florida Hematology and Oncology Group, follows Cardinal Health’s payment of

Management pressured staff to inflate Medicare reimbursements by “upcoding” and “ramping.” The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that arrangements with a third-party litigation funder did not deprive a whistleblower of legal “standing” to pursue her claims under the False Claims Act.  It also upheld a $255 million jury verdict for Medicare fraud against the two Florida skilled nursing