On November 15, 2024, the Department of Justice announced that Inova Health System, a major healthcare system in Northern Virginia, agreed to pay $2.37 million to resolve allegations of fraudulent healthcare billing. The settlement underscores the critical role whistleblowers play in exposing fraudulent practices in the healthcare industry. The Allegations…
read moreFrith & Ellerman Law Firm, based in Roanoke, Virginia, recently helped plaintiffs settle one of the largest “opt out” pharmaceutical drug recovery settlements on record. The $85 million settlement was entered on July 8, 2024, by Virginia pharmaceutical company Indivior, agreeing to resolve a lawsuit alleging healthcare fraud. The scheme…
read moreThe Department of Justice announced settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2.68 billion in 2023. In total, 543 settlement and verdicts occurred–the highest number ever in one year. Healthcare fraud continued to lead the way with cases involving including Medicare Advantage, unnecessary services, and unlawful kickbacks at…
read moreWe’ve written before about the explosive growth of whistleblower lawsuits for financial fraud, especially with COVID funds. Just this week, the SEC levied fines of $18 million against JP Morgan.[1] The megabank JP Morgan Chase will pay a $18 million fine as part of a settlement with the U.S. Securities…
read moreThis week, nine people were charged with healthcare fraud involving a company that provided home care to residents of Western Virginia. A recently unsealed November 2023 indictment revealed the extent of the scheme. All nine individuals that were charged were owners or employees of Adult N Pediatric Healthcare Service, a…
read moreI recently read an article in the June/July edition of the AARP Magazine on healthcare fraud. The article was titled, “The $80 Million Healthcare Fraud,” and described the criminal activity of a family of chiropractors who operated the Dolson Avenue Medical Clinic in New York. It appears the two brothers,…
read moreMany elderly Americans need medical care at home…they don’t need or want to be in hospital and certainly want to avoid being placed in nursing home. What these individuals need is trained and attentive home health services…and most of the providers (nurses and nursing aids) are just that…competent and caring…
read moreOne of the most common areas for whistleblowers is the opioid crisis. As chronicled in countless books, podcasts, and TV shows, the opioid industry is rife with fraud. In 2020 and 2021 alone, the Justice Department secured settlements in excess of $3 billion arising from whistleblower and False Claims Act…
read moreJust this week, HEYtex USA, a military fabric supplier based in Pulaski, Virginia, agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. In Wednesday’s announcement of the settlement, United States Attorney Chris Kavanaugh cited the actions of a HEYtex employee who came forward as…
read moreWe have written extensively about fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). See prior stories here and here. Now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia is launching a special taskforce for COVID-19 fraud. As detailed in a front-page story on the March 31, 2022 edition of…
read more