Category Archives: Whistleblower News

The Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force, which is made up of local, state and federal agencies, raided and shut down four San Fernando Valley clinics on Thursday, September 1, 2011. The clinics, upon investigation, were found to be engaging in Medicare fraud and serving as “prescription mills” from which fake prescriptions for the powerful pain killer OxyContin were issued. The raid resulted in three arrests as well as the seizure of computers, financial documents and patient records.

Read more at: http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_18813221

D.C. federal judge Richard Roberts recently ruled that the federal government could continue with its suit against First Choice Armor & Equipment, the bulletproof vest manufacturer that allegedly sold defective vests to state and local law enforcement agencies, under the False Claims Act. Judge Roberts held that, “[t]he government’s claim that First Choice knew the vests could not stand up to an industry standard that they ‘remain fit for use as body armor’ for five years is a valid claim under the False Claims Act.”

Read more at: http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/09/02/39525.htm

As part of its efforts to eliminate healthcare fraud, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will require approximately 750,000 physicians in the Medicare program to revalidate their individual enrollment records. Moreover, CMS announced on August 10th that eventually, it will send revalidation requests to more than 1.4 million health professionals between now and March 23, 2013. This revalidation effort has received criticism, with doctors describing Medicare enrollment as tedious and confusing. American Medical Association (AMA) President Peter W. Carmel, MD states, “We have very significant concerns with this revalidation effort in light of the problems physicians have had with enrollment and revalidation efforts in the past…the AMA is making this a priority and urging CMS to reconsider this action.”

Read more at: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/08/29/gvl10829.htm

Eleven Texas cities will pay $1.69 million to federal and state governments in order to resolve false claims and healthcare fraud claims. Investigations began when whistleblower Douglas Moore brought a suit in February 2010. Although the cities have yet to admit any wrongdoing, they agreed to resolve the “upcoded” claims submitted to Medicaid for city-dispatched ambulances.

Read more at: http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/08/25/39256.htm

The attendees at the Florida Alliance of Retired Americans gave vigorous support and endorsement for the Affordable Care Act. Regional director of the Department of Health and Human Services, Anton Gunn, stated, “Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the state of Florida has been awarded $110 million, and 255,000 people have been supported with prescription drugs.” However, Gunn also noted that Palm Beach County is “ground zero for Medicare fraud.” He added, “we have to staff a whole office and hire 68 new agents from the FBI Academy.” Among other suggestions, individuals also supported the idea of a single-payer health care system as well as a universal health care bill.

 
To read more, go to: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/delray-beach/fl-drf-healthcare-0824-20110824,0,27328.story