Author Archives: Site Administrator
Bank of New York Mellon Settles Florida Qui Tam Whistleblower Suit
The Florida Attorney General announced that Bank of New York Mellon (“BNY”) has agreed to pay $28 million to settle a Florida False Claims Act suit concerning foreign currency trades executed by BNY on behalf of the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund. The case was one of several lawsuits filed under the qui tam… Read More »
Johnson & Johnson and Subsidiaries Agree to $2.2 Billion Global Settlement of Whistleblower Lawsuit
The Department of Justice announced that worldwide healthcare company Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Scios, Inc., have agreed to settle criminal and civil allegations concerning the promotion of off-label uses for the prescriptions drugs Risperdal, Invega, and Natrecor, and the payment of kickbacks. According to its website, Johnson &… Read More »
Government Intervenes in Qui Tam Whistleblower Lawsuit Alleging Inadequate Background Checks
The Justice Department announced that the federal government has intervened in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that United States Investigations Services, LLC (“USIS”), a government contractor, violated the False Claims Act. The lawsuit claims that Virginia-based USIS failed to comply with the provisions of its contract with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (“OPM”). Since… Read More »
Florida False Claims Act Revised to Conform to Federal Qui Tam Whistleblower Statute
In 2013, the Florida Legislature amended the Florida False Claims Act (“FFCA”), codified at sections 68.081 et seq., Florida Statutes. The FFCA is modeled after its federal counterpart, the False Claims Act (“FCA”), which was first enacted during the Civil War to combat fraud against the government by defense contractors. The FFCA authorizes private… Read More »
Omnicare Agrees to Settle Whistleblower Suit for $120 Million
Omnicare, Inc., the nation’s largest provider of prescription medications in nursing homes, has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Ohio-based Omnicare will pay the federal government $120,000,000 to settle allegations that it offered pricing below fair market value to nursing homes for Medicare Part… Read More »
Boston Scientific Agrees to Settle Qui Tam Suit for $30 Million
Boston Scientific Corp. and its subsidiaries, Guidant LLC, Guidant Sales LLC, and Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc., (collectively “Guidant”) have agreed to settle a federal qui tam lawsuit for $30 million. The lawsuit was initially brought by whistleblower James Allen in Minnesota, and later joined by the United States in 2011. The whistleblower’s suit, filed under… Read More »
Diagnostic Laboratories and Radiology Settles False Claims Act Whistleblower Case for $17.5 Million
California-based Kan-Di-Ki, LLC doing business as Diagnostic Laboratories and Radiology (“Diagnostic”) has agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare and Medi-Cal, the California Medicaid program. A whistle blower lawsuit was brought in 2010 under the qui tam provisions of the federal and California False Claims Acts… Read More »
Texas Orthodontist Loses Whistleblower Lawsuit
Amarillo orthodontist, David Goodwin, was recently sentenced to more than 4 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution to the State of Texas Medicaid program, after pleading guilty to one count of health care fraud. Last week, Goodwin and his clinic, Goodwin Orthodontics, was also ordered to pay $4.2 million… Read More »
Conax Florida Corp. Settles Allegations of Providing Improperly Tested or Sub-Par Equipment to the Military
Conax Florida Corp., a government contractor based in St. Petersburg, Florida, has agreed to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging it violated the False Claims Act. Conax manufacturers various products for use by the U.S. military and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”), including inertia reels and voltage references. An inertia reel device is used… Read More »
Quest and LabCorp Face Virginia and Georgia False Claim Suits
Two recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuits allege that Quest Diagnostics, Inc. (“Quest”) and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (“LabCorp”) defrauded the Virginia and Georgia Medicaid programs. The whistleblower lawsuits were both filed under the qui tam provisions of the states’ False Claims Act statutes by Hunter Laboratories LLC and its chief executive officer Chris Riedel…. Read More »