Category Archives: Whistleblower News

As hospice care has become mainstream with more than 1.1 million Medicare patients per year, concerns about excessive costs and misuse have arisen rapidly.  The government has settled with a few hospice care companies in the past and more lawsuits seem to be prevalent.  As marketing of these companies becomes more aggressive, look for more government scrutiny.

Read more:  http://gantdaily.com/2011/06/27/growing-hospice-care-brings-concerns-about-misuse/

The Supreme Court issued a troubling decision that stands as a direct threat to consumer protection within the pharmaceutical industry.  The Court determined that generic drug companies do not share the same level of responsibility as makers of brand-name equivalents, to update their warning labels when significant new risks emerge.  Generic drugs now account for more than 70% of prescriptions filled in the U.S.  The Court’s decision to shield generic drug companies from liability goes against precedent and public policy.

Read more:  http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/23/scotus.generic.drugs/index.html

06/17/11 – In an effort to curtail fraud, Medicare will employ screening technology that is similar to what credit companies already use.  Traditionally, Medicare has paid claims first and asked questions later in a system called “pay and chase.”  With this new technology, Medicare will be able to track large numbers of claims using computer analysis to spot patterns of potential issues.  Medicare has awarded an initial $77 million contract for the new system to defense giant Northrup Grumman and a group of companies.  In discussing Northrop, Medicare anti-fraud czar Peter Budetti said, “We will be able to translate their experience from the private sector into Medicare.”  Note that the government is contracting with a company that has constantly committed fraud against them.  See: Northrop Grumman Agrees to Pay $12.5 Million to Settle Civil False Claims Act Case Alleging Test Violations – http://www.fbi.gov/losangeles/press-releases/2010/la062310.htm

Read more:  http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/17/general-mobile-telecommunications-us-medicare-fraud_8522267.html

06/15/11 – Dodd-Frank Act critics have traditionally argued that whistleblowers directly complain against their company to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) instead of using internal compliance programs because of the monetary bounties involved.  To appease these critics, the SEC’s new procedures offer employees greater sums if they go through internal corporate channels first and lesser if they do not.  While monetary rewards do provide an incentive to whistle blow, recent research by a University of San Diego law professor shows that certain protections to the whistleblower can be just as important to some employees.  Accordingly, corporate internal programs need to understand the motivations of their employees rather than assume it’s all about the money.

Read more: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/15/how-to-encourage-the-right-kind-of-whistleblowers/

06/07/11 – Mainstream media outlets have been inspired by the success of Wikileaks in obtaining information.  Al-Jazeera, and the Wall Street Journal have launched Al-Jazeera Transparency Unit (AJTU) and SafeHouse, respectively, to allow whistleblowers to confidentially share documents with the news sources.  Both sites assure that users’ information will be securely kept and not misused.  However, through the usage of broad language, they both reserve the right to disclose information to law enforcement.  Furthermore, both SafeHouse and AJTU disclaim all promises of confidentiality, anonymity, and security.

Read more: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/06/wsj-and-al-jazeera-lure-whistleblowers-false