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 […]
Employment Specialists of Maine Settles False Claims Suit
[Post updated through 2021] Employment Specialists of Maine, known locally as ESM, is a private community rehabilitation provider in Maine. It provides services for many Maine residents struggling with intellectual disabilities. The company relies heavily on funding from the federal Medicaid program as well as state tax dollars. Earlier this year ESM settled charges that […]
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 […]
Healthcare Fraud Defendant Bought 20 Cars With Tax Dollars
Prosecutors claim Regina Swims-King defrauded the federal Medicare program out of millions of dollars. She was charged with several counts of healthcare fraud earlier this year but the indictment was sealed and only last week did more details about her alleged spending spree using tax dollars emerge. According to the indictment, Swims-King owns Angelic 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 […]
Wisconsin Lawyer & Physician Sanctioned in Medicaid Fraud Case
A Wisconsin lawyer and physician have both been admonished for their actions in a Medicaid fraud case (whistleblower suit) pending in a Milwaukee federal court. The lawyer on the case, Rebecca Geitman, was ordered to pay attorneys fees of $26,000. Those sanctions and fee awards unfortunately threaten to overshadow the larger and important legal issues […]
Health Care Fraud – Feds Arrest 75 People
Health care fraud costs Americans $80 billion per year according to the FBI. And the cost is rising! The feds can’t lock up the culprits fast enough – if they can even find them. Law enforcement officials in Puerto Rico are trying to make a dent; the Justice Department announced that 75 people were arrested in […]