News

Los Angeles physician assistant David James Garrison, along with a number of co-conspirators, engaged in a high-stakes Medicare fraud scheme to write prescriptions for medically unnecessary diagnostic tests and durable medical equipment (DME). Because of the conspiracy, well over $18 million in false claims were submitted to Medicare. Mr. Garrison and his co-conspirators profited $10.7...

Muhammad “Sib” Ahmad, an owner in three Detroit-area home health agencies, has pleaded guilty for participating in a Medicare fraud scheme that cost the federal government over $13 million, according to the Justice Department.

Mr. Ahmad and his co-conspirators allegedly bought three home health agencies: First Care Home Health Care LLC, Physicians Choice Home Health Care LLC, and...

A lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act has led to a $34 million settlement for the federal government, of which more than $9 million will be awarded to the whistleblower. Medical device manufacturer Orthofix Inc. will pay the federal government over $34 million to settle allegations that it filed false claims with federal programs for services related to the...

Texas resident Hector Cuevas has pleaded guilty and will serve 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his participation in a scheme to defraud the U.S. Export-Import Bank of about $690,624, according to the Justice Department. In addition, he was ordered to pay restitution of $553,148 and to forfeit $690,624. Last year, Mr. Cuevas pleaded guilty to wire fraud,...

Detroit resident Victor Jayasundera, co-owner of occupational and physical therapy provider Jos Campau Physical Therapy, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years supervised release for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare of over $1.9 million, according to the Justice Department. Mr. Jayasundera must also pay restitution totaling $855,484, jointly and severally with his...

A medical transportation company that provides ambulance service in several states has settled a False Claims Act lawsuit for $5,426,000, according to a recent announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Birmingham, Alabama.

The lawsuit, which was brought by a former employee of the company under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, alleged that Rural/Metro...

Christus Spohn Health Systems, which is based in Kingsville, Texas, has settled a lawsuit with the federal government over alleged Medicare fraud for over $5 million. The lawsuit claimed that six Spohn hospitals regularly billed Medicare for more expensive inpatient procedures, but in reality, they only performed less expensive outpatient procedures.

The lawsuit, which was filed in 2008...

CVS Caremark Corp., the parent company of Longs Drug Stores Corp., has settled a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that Longs Drug Stores fraudulently billed Medicaid health insurance programs in six Western states.

The qui tam lawsuit was filed by a former pharmacy technician with a Longs Drug Store in Walnut Creek, California, who alleged that the drug store chain overcharged...

Diagnostic Labs, the largest clinical laboratory and radiology company operating in Southern California, is facing a False Claims Act lawsuit claiming that it committed Medicare and Medicaid fraud by giving kickbacks to nursing homes.

According to the allegations, the Burbank-based company gave large discounts to nursing homes (charging only $1 per patient for some services) in...

The owner and employees of a now-closed counseling services provider under contract with Oklahoma to counsel Medicaid patients have been charged with Medicaid fraud. According to pleadings filed by the state’s attorney general in Oklahoma County District Court, the owner and four counseling service providers of Guthrie-based Pure Hope Corporation billed the state for services that were...