The hospital industry is accustomed to far-fetched whistleblower claims: allegations that a hospital knowingly submitted false or fraudulent Medicare or Medicaid claims or fired a whistleblower for trying to prevent such activity. But in terms of far-fetched claims decided in January, whistleblower Jana Endicott …
2016 Nerve-of-a-Burglar Award
January 10, 2017 Leave a Comment
Competition for the 2016 Nerve-of-a-Burglar Award was fierce, with health care providers constantly coming up with new and different ways to scam Medicare and Medicaid. Nevertheless, we have a clear winner: the Michigan physician charged with an array of fraudulent Medicaid schemes that included ordering …
What’s In a Name? Or, the Importance of Emphasis
August 17, 2016 Leave a Comment
I.A. Khair of New Jersey ran an ambulance company called K&S Invalid Coach. Presumably, “Invalid” was pronounced IN-va-lid, with the emphasis on the first syllable. Maybe it should have been pronounced in-VAL-id, with the emphasis on the second syllable. Why? Because by running the company Khair …
Flying Pigs and False Claims
July 14, 2016 Leave a Comment
On July 7 the Fourth Circuit invoked Flying Pigs to vacate a lower federal court judgment in a Medicaid false claim case, even though neither the lower court nor any of the parties asked it to. The case started in 2007, when the relators filed a qui tam action in Virginia state court against several medical …
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 …