Whistleblower Law Collaborative Blog and News

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By: Whistleblower Law Collaborative, LLC

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Erica Blachman Hitchings
Bruce C. Judge
Linda C. Severin
Suzanne E. Durrell
Erica Hitchings
Margaret Houtz
Alex Maulden
Alexandra Maulden
Robert Thomas
Robert M. Thomas Jr.
David W.S. Lieberman
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Latest from Whistleblower Law Collaborative Blog and News

DOJ shows no signs of slowing down in its pursuit of fraud in the Medicare Advantage program.  In the summer of 2021, DOJ reached a landmark settlement and intervened in six related Medicare Advantage fraud lawsuits.  Now, in September, DOJ has filed a Medicare Advantage fraud lawsuit against Independent Health and its former CEO.  Independent Health offers two Medicare Advantage Plans in New York State.  The United States has also sued Independent Health’s subsidiary,…
DOJ’s lawsuit against drug manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals for copay fraud is charging full steam ahead! DOJ’s Allegations of Teva’s Copay Fraud As we previously reported, in August 2020, the United States filed a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that Teva illegally paid over $300 million to induce prescriptions of its drug Copaxone.  According to the complaint, Teva funneled the money to two patient assistance foundations.  These were not, however, simple charitable donations.  Rather, the…
This summer, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) took two major steps forward in the longstanding battle against Medicare Advantage fraud. First, the United States intervened in six separate False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower cases alleging Medicare Advantage fraud.  The lawsuits allege that Kaiser Permanente and several of its medical groups knowingly submitted inaccurate diagnosis codes for their Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees.  Kaiser did this to receive higher reimbursements from the government. Second, the government…
The False Claims Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office successfully fought fraud over the past fiscal year by investigating and prosecuting opportunists who sought to line their own pockets with taxpayer money. Specifically, many fraudsters took advantage of the COVID-related economic emergency measures that the government put into place. These measures include the Paycheck Protection Program and the CARES Act.  However, run-of-the-mill fraud doesn’t stop during a public health crisis, and many people continued…
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has settled a Massachusetts False Claims Act qui tam lawsuit brought by a Whistleblower Law Collaborative client against Diesel Direct, LLC and two of its executives as defendants. Details of the Massachusetts False Claims Act Settlement Diesel Direct, LLC, its chief executive officer, and its senior vice president will pay $850,000 to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act.  The suit alleged that Defendants knowingly delivered nonconforming petroleum…
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For as long as fraudsters have existed, so have whistleblowers. Traditionally, whistleblowers have been insiders who relay personal knowledge of a company’s fraudulent behavior to the government. However, the advent of large-scale data analytics has engendered a new kind of whistleblower – “data whistleblowers.” A “data whistleblower” is a person or entity that analyzes large quantities of data to detect fraud. Integra’s Efforts to Root Out Fraud Integra Med Analytics is one of…
Last week, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced a settlement with Bedrock LLC for N95 mask fraud. Bedrock, a Salem-based company, will pay $3.5 million. The AG’s Office alleged that Bedrock made repeated false statements and failed to provide 900,000 face masks after the Commonwealth entered into an emergency purchase order for the masks. This case illustrates the AG’s commitment to holding accountable fraudsters taking advantage of the COVID-19 health crisis to cheat taxpayers. Authorities…
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On March 26, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced updated results of its expanded criminal and civil enforcement cracking down on COVID-19 fraud.  These efforts resulted in DOJ publicly charging 474 defendants with criminal offenses related to COVID-19 schemes, involving efforts to acquire over $569 million from the U.S. government and other individuals through fraudulent means. DOJ targeted schemes relating to several CARES Act programs which have been a priority for DOJ since…
A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty last week in the country’s first prosecution for CARES Act fraud. As we previously reported, federal authorities charged David Staveley and David Butziger last May with fraudulently seeking pandemic relief loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). Specifically, the men allegedly sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans for businesses that they did own or that were not operating. As such, the businesses did not qualify for…
As we recently shared, WLC member Suzanne Durrell spoke at the 25th Annual Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) Compliance Institute. Her panel was titled “Whistleblowers: Who are They and Why do they Become Whistleblowers and How Do You Evaluate a Whistleblower Case?”  We’ve already shared some of the panel’s thoughts on best practices for successful compliance culture.  Today we wanted to share some of the panel’s thoughts on how compliance officers can…