Patient dumping represents one of the darker sides of the medical profession. Physicians take the Hippocratic Oath promising they “will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required.” Unfortunately, hospital administrators don’t take the same oath. These days many seem to care more about the hospital’s financial health rather than the […]
Medicare Fraud Whistleblower Opportunity?
Periodically, we review the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services enforcement action docket. There are literally tens of thousands of healthcare providers across the country. Most participate in the Medicare or Medicaid health programs. The government periodically audits a small percentage of these providers each year. When a significant problem is uncovered, the government can […]
Supreme Court May Take Up False Claims Act Appeal
The United States Supreme Court is considering hearing an appeal of the dismissal of a False Claims Act case. Noel Nathan was a sales manager employed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He claimed his employer was committing Medicare fraud by overprescribing prescription antacids. A federal judge in Virginia dismissed his complaint saying that Nathan did not plead […]
Hospice Owner Convicted In $14 Million Medicare Fraud
The owner of a Pennsylvania hospice care business, Matthew Kolodesh, was convicted of Medicare fraud. Jurors found he billed Medicare for over $14 million in claims for patients that were not eligible to receive Medicare benefits. In many cases, the services were billed but never provided. Prosecutors say that Kolodesh spent $9.6 million of hospice […]
Seattle MD Faces Medicare Fraud Charges
A Seattle physician has been charged with Medicare fraud. Published reports claim Bruce Chen was falsely billing for visiting patients. While that may sound more like an oversight or paperwork error, the government says some of the patients allegedly seen by Chen were dead while at other times he wasn’t even in the United States. […]
Feds Take Ambulance Company Owners For A Ride – Health Care Fraud
Earlier this month, a federal judge in Philadelphia sentenced Aleksandr N. Zagorodny, 40, to 78 months in prison for a health care fraud scheme involving MedEx Ambulance, Inc. He was the former president of the business. His brother, Sergey Zagorodny, 36, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for his involvement in the health care […]
Heads on Beds – Assisted Living Facility Whistleblowers Post
[Post Updated through 2019] Whistleblowers play a critical role in the fight against rising healthcare costs. The biggest area of fraud – one that costs the government billions of dollars in fraud annually – is the Medicare program. Because Medicare is subsidized with tax dollars, healthcare providers that bill for unnecessary or poor quality services […]
No Show Doctor Convicted of Medicare Fraud – Whistleblower Post
New York physician Gustave Drivas was convicted of federal Medicare fraud following a trial in a Brooklyn federal court. He faces 20 years when sentenced later this summer. Medicare fraud costs taxpayers billions each year. Thankfully many of these crimes are solved by whistleblowers. According to court records, Drivas was affiliated with a clinic in […]
Feds Charge 89 With Medicare Fraud – Whistleblowers Rejoice
Earlier this month, federal officials arrested 89 people in Miami, Detroit, Tampa, Houston, New York and Los Angeles and charged them with health care fraud. The action was a coordinated effort involving the FBI, Postal Inspectors, IRS, Department of Health and Human Services and local officials. Historically, many of these cases come to light because of […]
The Tie Between Political Corruption and Violations of the False Claims Act
by Brian Mahany The federal false claims act was enacted during the Civil War to help a weak and struggling federal government recoup its losses from a multitude of government contractors who sold rancid rations, faulty gun powder and bad equipment to the Union Army. It’s purpose wasn’t to fight government corruption but in the […]