Recently, the United States filed a Notice of Settlement in the Middle District of Florida seeking to resolve its allegations that a pharmacy and its owner violated the False Claims Act. Notably, this matter was originally filed as qui tam... Read More
As physician practices are in the midst of calculating and distributing 2022 year-end bonuses to physician employees and profits to owners, practices providing Designated Health Services ("DHS"), such as laboratory testing, diagnostic radiology... Read More
Having served for nearly a decade as a federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), I always understood that whether a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) will result in criminal charges versus a civil lawsuit for... Read More
As a result of the increased marketing by payors of over-the-counter (“OTC”) cards to plan members, pharmacists are being placed in jeopardy by patients who do not know, or appreciate, the legal complexities around proper use of these cards. The... Read More
On September 23, 2022, the Fourth Circuit issued a per curiam opinion upholding the dismissal of a 2014 qui tam suit against Forest Laboratories, LLC while vacating both the district court and subsequent Fourth Circuit panel opinions. Although the... Read More
Last month, Philips RS North America, LLC (formerly Respironics, Inc.), a durable medical equipment manufacturer, agreed to pay $1.28 million to settle civil allegations that it unlawfully induced referrals for its equipment in violation of the... Read More
Earlier this month, the DOJ announced that a pharmacy owner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud for his involvement in an $8.3 million scheme. The individual was an owner of three pharmacies that paid kickbacks to telemarketers... Read More
Earlier this week the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court’s holding which found that drug manufacturer Pfizer Inc.’s practice of providing copay assistance to Medicare beneficiaries violated the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”).... Read More
The Department of Justice ("DOJ") indicted a North Carolina physician assistant last month on criminal charges in a genetic testing scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $10 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare. The indictment... Read More
On July 20, 2022, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert warning practitioners to exercise caution when entering into certain telehealth arrangements. The Alert references the many recent investigations of telemedicine... Read More
