February 27, 2018
News
Harold Berger was named to the Academic Life Committee of the School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Pennsylvania.
February 6, 2018
News
On February 6, 2018, Berger Montague attorneys Jon Lambiras and Lane Vines presented a 2-hour CLE to the Philadelphia chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. It was attended by approximately 60 attorneys, CPAs, and fraud investigators.
January 3, 2018
News
Berger Montague has selected Sherrie R. Savett to serve as Chairwoman of the firm in 2018. Ms. Savett is the first woman to hold the chair position in Berger Montague’s 48-year history. The firm also promoted two attorneys, Ellen T. Noteware and Caitlin G. Coslett, to shareholder status.
January 3, 2018
News
Berger Montague is pleased to announce that on December 29, 2017, affiliates of American Gypsum Co., National Gypsum Co., and PABCO Building Products LLC agreed to pay a class of drywall direct purchasers $125 million to settle price-fixing allegations. This latest settlement brings the total amount of settlements for the class to $190.7 million.
December 13, 2017
Healthcare Fraud
Nurses have long been a crucial part of the healthcare system, and they can be just as crucial when it comes to reporting fraud within that system. As insiders and observers of many healthcare procedures and billing practices, nurses have much-needed visibility into wrongdoing being committed by hospitals, physician-practice groups, […]
November 10, 2017
False Claims Act Information
In 1994, the Florida Legislature adopted the Florida False Claims Act (“Florida FCA”),[1] which, generally speaking, “authorizes a private person or the State to initiate a civil action against a person or company who knowingly presents a false claim to the State for payment.”[2] Like the federal False Claims Act, […]
October 30, 2017
Healthcare Fraud
Medi-Cal is the name of the State of California’s Medicaid program, as well as certain state healthcare programs. Medi-Cal is administered by the California Department of Health Services and accounts for more than $40 billion in annual expenditures – nearly one-quarter of the state’s entire budget. Medi-Cal provides health coverage […]
October 23, 2017
Grant Fraud
By Sherrie Savett Background The National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) awards billions of dollars to support medical and scientific research in the area of health and diseases. NIH invests approximately $32.3 billion each year in research grants to recipient organizations.[1] There are strict requirements for grant approval. Only 7 – […]
October 20, 2017
Healthcare Fraud
Imagine the following scenario: a patient with Medicare sprains her ankle and sees a doctor for one 15 minute appointment. The doctor then bills Medicare as if he had seen the patient for five 15 minute appointments over the course of a month. The doctor figures that Medicare will never […]
October 16, 2017
Healthcare Fraud
Although fraud against the federal and state governments occurs in many different industries, there is always a lot of attention paid to healthcare fraud because it involves such enormous government expenditures, and it has such a huge impact on the beneficiaries of government healthcare programs. That impact can be through […]
October 13, 2017
Grant Fraud
By Sherrie Savett Major universities rely on government grant money to supplement their revenues from tuition, endowments, and contributions. Purely research entities which are not full universities and where there is little or no tuition revenue depend even more heavily on government grant money, especially in the area of medical […]
October 11, 2017
Healthcare Fraud
There is much confusion between the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law because both laws deal with remuneration related to improper referrals. But there are fundamental distinctions between the two laws. Anti-Kickback Statute [42 U.S §1320a-7b(b)] The federal Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b), (“AKS”) arose out of congressional […]