Biotech company Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has set aside $780 million to cover the costs of settling federal and state probes into its sales and marketing practices, according to a Bloomberg report. Read more at Becker’s ASC Review.
Legal & Regulatory Issues
Three physicians from Carolina Bone & Joint in Charlotte, N.C., have been fined $85,000 each by the state medical board for allegedly ordering unnecessary procedures, according to a Charlotte Observer report. Read more at Becker’s ASC Review.
Pfizer has agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle False Claims Act allegations related to the marketing of its drug Detrol, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. This settlement resolves the last of a group of…
The federal government has filed a suit against Kernan Hospital, an orthopedic and rehabilitation hospital in Baltimore, over allegations that it improperly billed Medicare and Medicaid for a severe form of malnutrition, according to a Baltimore Sun report. The suit…
Pikeville (Ky.) Medical Center has settled a whistleblower lawsuit with the federal government alleging that it improperly billed Medicare for work done in its pain management clinic, according to an Associated Press report featured in The Republic. Whistleblower Michael Fletcher,…
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In the past six years, the federal government has more than tripled the amount of money gained through Medicaid fraud prosecutions, according to a USA TODAY report. The government gained $573 million in 2004 compared to 2010’s $1.85 billion. This…
A state audit shows New Jersey may be overpaying for Medicaid because the largest Medicaid plan in the state is allegedly not pursuing fraudulent claims aggressively enough, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report. Comptroller Matthew Boxer has said that Horizon…
The district attorney of Texas’ Harris County has repeatedly complained to federal Medicare officials about fraud involving private ambulances, only to have her concerns ignored for more than two years, according to a Houston Chronicle report. DA Pat Lykos says…
After conducting an investigation, the Associated Press claims officials fighting Medicare fraud regularly suspend providers only to “quickly reinstate them after appeals hearings that government employees don’t even attend,” according to an AP report from ABC News. These speedy reinstatements…
Here are the 50 states with the number of Medicaid fraud investigations from fiscal year 2010. Information is from the Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and is based on Medicaid Fraud Control Units. Investigations are…