The United States has settled a federal False Claims Act case brought by Robert Stone, a client of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC, against Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Healthcare, Inc. doing business as Pharmacy Plus and Pharmacy Plus Specialty.    Terms of The False Claims Act Settlement Under the terms of the settlement, Jewish Hospital has agreed to pay the United States more than $10.1 million to resolve allegations that it  defrauded Medicare in…

Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC Member Erica Blachman Hitchings (former Department of Justice Trial Attorney and AUSA) recently sat down with four other recent alumni from the Department of Justice for an informative, behind-the-scenes look at how the federal government approaches False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and litigation.  The conversation was captured in a series of studio briefings titled “Discussing DOJ Civil Enforcement and False Claims Act Strategies,” produced by Practising Law Institute. Erica Hitchings…

The United States spends a lot of money on goods and services each year.  How much?  In 2018, the federal government spent more than $550 billion on goods and services.  Additionally, the federal government spent $79 billion that year in the form of grants, awards, and transfers to state and local governments to pay for public works and infrastructure projects.  Consequently, as a senior Justice Department official  recently observed, roughly one out of every ten…

In a recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver explained drug compounding pharmacies and highlighted some of the problems they pose for regulators and the public. [embedded content] Drug compounders make medicine for people (and animals) whose medical needs cannot be met with FDA-approved products. Instead of obtaining drugs mass-produced by a pharmaceutical company, a patient can turn to a compounding pharmacy for custom-made medication. Compounding pharmacies allow medication to be tailored to the…

With the news that a White House Ukraine whistleblower is willing to speak to Congress, it appears inevitable that his or her identity will become public. Some have argued that the whistleblower should publicly make the case against the president. We and our partners are former government prosecutors who now represent whistleblowers alleging fraud against the government. Together, we have represented scores of whistleblowers raising allegations of impropriety under federal and state law. When necessary,…

It is both interesting and fun to be interviewed by television news reporters about a story, genetic testing fraud, that closely aligns with work one is doing.  It’s exciting to perform important newsworthy work and to be trusted as a source of expertise. Last week’s CBS News expose of genetic testing fraud against Medicare was wonderful in that way. We are well-acquainted with a variety of scams involving genetic testing fraud against Medicare. With that…