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…
Legal & Regulatory Issues
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…
Atlanta physician Robert Williams, MD, has been sentenced to one year and three months in federal prison after he admitted to filing more than $2 million in fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims, according to a news report. Read more at…
New York Downtown Hospital has agreed to pay $13.4 million to settle charges of participation in a massive Medicaid scam, according to a New York Post report. The hospital and other medical facilities have been accused of illegally “recycling” hundreds…
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Columbia University Medical Center in New York has agreed to settle a civil lawsuit brought against it by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District in New York in connection with billings to Medicare for urology services provided by…
Fremont, Calif.-based Scios, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has pleaded guilty to misbranding its heart failure drug Natrecor and will pay an $85 million criminal fine, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Scios admitted that…
The Office of Inspector General has released the Work Plan (pdf) for fiscal year 2012 that outlines projects OIG will continue or start in the new fiscal year.
In response to the Senate Finance Committee’s report and concerns over physician-owned distributorships, the Office of Inspector General is initiating a review of PODs to examine how they may contribute to cost increases. PODs, which exist in at least 20…
The California Department of Public Health has dismissed cases related to the diagnosis and coding of septicemia at Prime Healthcare hospitals, but referred the data to fraud officials for further examination, according to a Sacramento Bee report. The findings have…