Category Archives: Whistleblower News

Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. will pay $42 million in its settlement regarding Medicare fraud. According to the charges Hill-Rom billed for extended periods “without making any reasonable effort to determine if the patients for whom it submitted the claims continued to meet Medicare conditions for payment.” The whistleblowers will receive $8 million in rewards, announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Read more at: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2011/09/28/hill-rom-to-pay-42m-fraud-settlement.html?s=print

Improper payments cost Medicare $48 billion last year. Some even suggest that the total amount resulting in Medicare fraud is up to $100 million a year. Medicare officials say they have taken significant action, with federal spending on the fight against Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse.
Read more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/09/27/How-Medicare-Wastes-Almost-50-Billion-a-Year.aspx#page1

Boston Scientific Corp. Guidant LLC will play $9.25 million to settle false claims allegations, brought forth by a whistleblower, that the company defrauded the U.S. Government and private hospitals for heart pacemakers and defibrillators.  The whistleblower will receive more than $2.3 million from the settlement.

Read more at: http://www.beckersasc.com/stark-act-and-fraud-abuse-issues/boston-scientifics-guidant-to-pay-925m-to-settle-claims-of-inflated-pacemaker-costs.html

Here is a list of the “15 Biggest Hospital False Claims and Anti-Kickback Stories of 2011” published by Becker’s Hospital Review. Read the list to gain valuable insight into the common types of fraud and waste plaguing the U.S. health system.

Read more at: http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/stark-act-/-antikickback-statute-/-false-claims/15-biggest-hospital-false-claims-and-anti-kickback-stories-of-2011.html

A Miami Federal Judge has refused to dismiss false claims lawsuits brought by former Kaplan employees, who allege that Kaplan University and Kaplan Higher Education Corp. violated the Higher Education Act to receive federal funding and profits. While the Judge rejected some of the whistleblowers’ accusations against Kaplan (i.e. manipulating student academic records and job-placement statistics), she allowed the whistleblower to pursue other claims, such as the retaliation claims.

Read more at: http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/09/22/39981.htm