Who knew? When you park for free at your doctor’s office, you may be a pawn in a scheme to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, and the False Claims Act. It’s enough to make you sick. That’s one of the lessons of an August 14 federal court decision in Florida. Whistleblower Thomas …
OIG Approves Lease of Employees to Psych Hospital
July 29, 2015 Leave a Comment
On July 28 the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of Health & Human Services gave its blessing to a health system’s lease of employees to a related psychiatric system. Under the arrangement the system would also provide management services. In return, the hospital would pay the system its “fully …
Beware of Nurses Bearing Gifts
July 21, 2015 Leave a Comment
Alisia and David blew the whistle on their former employer, Nurses’ Registry & Home Health, for sending gift baskets and ticket events to doctors who referred patients to the home health operation. Their qui tam suit alleged that the gifts violated the Stark Law. The government joined in. Nurses’ …
OIG Advises that Exclusive Lab Referral Arrangement May be a Kickback
March 25, 2015 Leave a Comment
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an advisory opinion (No. 15-04) today that states a proposed arrangement to provide free laboratory tests for certain patients of associated physician practices could implicate the federal anti-kickback law. An unnamed …
There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity
March 9, 2015 Leave a Comment
As of March 3, Solvay Pharmaceuticals is ready to second P.T. Barnum’s famous dictum that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. That’s the day a federal court in Texas dismissed a qui tam action against Solvay. The whistleblowers filed suit in June 2003, claiming that Solvay paid kickbacks to …
Seventh Circuit Adopts Broad Definition of Anti-Kickback “Referral”
February 12, 2015 Leave a Comment
The federal Anti-Kickback Statute makes it a crime to give or receive anything of value in return for “referral” of a Medicare patient. But exactly what is a “referral”? That’s the issue decided by the Seventh Circuit last Tuesday in United States v. Patel. Patel is an internist with a heavy …