August 31, 2015
Healthcare Fraud
When the H.E.A.T. Task Force convened in 2009, part of their mission was to eliminate costly and wasteful kickback schemes from the government-backed healthcare system. Kickback schemes, like the one profiled in today’s case, often involve improper financial arrangements between doctors either pharmaceutical companies or major healthcare corporations. In essence, […]
August 28, 2015
Contractor Fraud
Government contract work can be exceptionally lucrative for a small or medium-sized business, often comprising a large majority of its income and workload. In return for the reliability of payments, not to mention the payments themselves, under a contract with the federal government, contractors are required to adhere to certain […]
August 27, 2015
Military Contractor Fraud
Earlier this month, government contractor Sandia National Laboratories agreed to pay $4.7 million amid allegations that it improperly and intentionally misallocated federal funding in order to pay for lobbying efforts to Congress regarding contracts for nuclear research and development. Much like healthcare fraud, government contracting fraud is becoming a growing […]
August 26, 2015
Healthcare Fraud
The publicly-traded company known as NuVasive, Inc. has agreed to pay $13 million to settle claims it fraudulently induced doctors and healthcare professionals to overbill government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. The company, which is based in California, is known for its design, manufacture, and sale of products used in complex […]
August 25, 2015
Healthcare Fraud
Under the False Claims Act, sins of omission are punished just as severely as sins of commission, and Pediatric Services of America can attest to this fact. Known as reverse false claims, failing to properly reimburse programs like Medicare and Medicaid for known overpayments is considered equivalent to overbilling and […]
August 24, 2015
Education Fraud
Federal Student Financial Aid is the largest provider of funding for American college students in the United States. These funds have paid approximately $150 billion in grants, work-study funds, and financial aid to 13 million students. Like all federal money, these funds come with strings attached and universities are required […]
August 21, 2015
Grant Fraud
Unfortunately, fraud within universities is not uncommon, and today’s case highlights a growing trend of grant fund misuse. Located in the mountains of West Virginia, Wheeling Jesuit University has agreed to pay $2.3 million it is alleged to have misused, all of which was provided by the National Aeronautics and […]
August 20, 2015
Healthcare Fraud
Of the various ways in which healthcare providers can violate the False Claims Act, ordering medically unnecessary procedures – particularly those involving the cardiac system – are considered particularly egregious. As opposed to illegal upcoding or kickback schemes, the performance of medically unnecessary procedures actually places patients directly in harm’s […]
August 19, 2015
Healthcare Fraud
In fiscal year 2014, American taxpayers footed a $554 billion dollar bill for Medicare and Medicaid – two programs that, while essential in nature, are exceedingly strapped for resources. As one of the hallmark goals of the False Claims Act, authorities have worked diligently to ensure providers are billing correctly […]
August 18, 2015
False Claims Act Legal News
In yesterday’s post, we explored the concept of implied certification under the False Claims Act – a theory which somewhat eliminates the requirement for explicit false claims activity, but requires evidence that the defendant knew or should have known his activity did not comply with a government contract, but continued […]
August 17, 2015
False Claims Act Information
A defendant may be liable under the False Claims Act on two different theories: the presentment of factually false claims and the presentment of legally false claims. A claim is factually false when a government payee submits information that is untrue on its face and misrepresents the goods or services […]
August 14, 2015
Military Contractor Fraud
Aside from healthcare fraud, defense contractor fraud remains one of the top forms of waste and abuse addressed by the False Claims Act. Too often, big-budget defense contracts serve as fodder for dishonest companies to inflate and exaggerate costs, resulting in unnecessary spending of an already-strained defense budget. In one […]