The Energizer Bunny has nothing on the whistleblower claim of Robert Cunningham. Here’s what’s happened since Robert files his qui tam action against Millennium Labs back in 2009: the government declined to intervene; seven more whistleblowers filed related actions against Millennium; the government …
Doctor Gets $4.6M for Blowing Whistle on Over-Compensated Doctors
August 4, 2016 Leave a Comment
Neurologist Dr. David Hammett will receive $4,590,000 as part of a settlement entered into by Lexington Medical Center (LMC) of West Columbia, S.C., and the federal government. Ironically, the hefty compensation comes as a result of Dr. Hammett’s blowing the whistle on LMC for over-compensating some of its …
When Inside Knowledge Is a Handicap to a Whistleblower
June 27, 2016 Leave a Comment
Here’s a riddle: The whistleblower is a former employee of the defendant, with inside knowledge of the operations at the heart of his qui tam suit. How can that inside knowledge be a handicap in pressing his claim? A June 21 decision by a Massachusetts federal court provides an answer and an …
Court Rejects Qui Tam Attack on Standard On-Call Contract
June 15, 2016 Leave a Comment
On June 10 the Third Circuit affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a physician’s qui tam action against Pottstown Memorial Medical Center (PMMC) for violating the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and False Claims Act (FCA). And it’s a good thing because the basis of his claim was an on-call coverage arrangement …
False Claims Charges vs. Eye Clinic Sufficiently Specific
June 8, 2016 Leave a Comment
Michael Sorenson is an optometrist formerly employed by Outreach Diagnostic Clinic. After he quit, he filed a False Claims action against the eye clinic and the two doctors who owned it. He alleged that the clinic routinely billed Medicare for tonography (i.e., eye pressure) tests that were never performed and …
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
May 17, 2016 Leave a Comment
Oscar Wilde observed, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Whistle-blower Michael Cascio discovered the truth of that saying when a federal court threw out his qui tam case against a national wound care provider that partners with some 800 hospitals across the country. Mike and two others alleged that …