Patient Recruiter for Miami Home Health Agencies Convicted of Receiving Health Care Kickbacks and Conspiracy

A patient recruiter for several Miami-area home health agencies was convicted on April 1, 2016 for his role in a fraud and kickback scheme t...

Chicago Marketer Convicted of Violating Anti-Kickback Statute for Receiving Money in Exchange for Marketing and Referring Elderly Patients to Home Health Company. Marketing Is Risky Business Unless Done Right.

Marketing for home health businesses and other health care providers is subjected to many federal and state st atutes and regulations. Viola...

California Podiatrist Sentenced to 3 Years for Federal Health Care Fraud for Upcoding, Providing Services Not Medically Necessary or Performed By Unlicensed Staff, and Altering Records

On April 15, 2016, a podia trist Dr. Neil Van Dyck of Roseville, California was sentenced b y United States District Judge Garland E. Burrel...

Marin Doctor Pleads Guilty To Prescribing Controlled Substances (Oxycodone, Methadone, Hydrocodone) Outside Course of Professional Practice and Without Legitimate Medical Purpose

On March 9, 2016, Dr. Michael Roger Chiarottino pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland to distribution of oxycodone outside the usual co...

Georgia Doctor Pleads Guilty to False Billing to Private Insurers and Medicare for Surgical Monitoring Performed by Medical Assistant

Analysis of billing data is leading to more investigations, audits and prosecutions. Anonymous  complaints to the HHS-OIG Hotline at 800-HHS...

Respironics to Pay $34.8 Million in Qui Tam Case for Allegedly Paying Kickbacks in Form of Free Call Center Services to DME Suppliers That Bought Its Masks for Sleep Apnea Patients

On or about March 23, 2016, a national medical supply company Respironics Inc., based in Pennsylvania, agreed to pay $34.8 million to resolv...

Premiertox Pays U.S. and Tennessee $2.5 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Lawsuit for Urine Drug Screening Services. Allegations of Unlawful Kickbacks, Lack of Medical Necessity

Quantitative urine drug screening ordered by physicians or other health care providers (such as drug treatment centers) and toxicology labor...

Los Angeles Area Insurance Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor for Allowing Unlicensed Employee to Advise Clients About and Sell Insurance

Insurance agents are required to be licensed. In an unusual case for criminal prosecution, an owner of an insurance agency and two of his em...

Florida Pain Medicine Clinic and its Owners Agree to Settle Qui Tam Case Involving Allegedly Medically Unnecessary Nerve Conduction Velocity Tests

Nerve conduction studies (NCS) or nerve conduction velocity tests (NCV) have been a source of Medicare audits in California and Florida for ...

New Jersey Family Doctor Who Billed For Non-Existent Office Visits, Altered Patient Medical Records Sentenced To More Than Three Years In Prison

In the past, if there were Medicare audits for services billed but not performed, there would be a demand for overpayment and criminal prose...

Former California Resident Sentenced to 30 Months in Federal Custody for Sale of Unapproved “Energy Wave” (Rife) Medical Devices

Former California resident David Perez was sentenced in federal court on April 4, 2016 to 30 months in custody for conspiracy to commit mail...

Napa Gastroenterologist Agrees To Pay $400,000 To Settle Allegations That He Upcoded Patient Visits and Unbundled Conoloscopy Charges To The Medicare Program

On or about April 1, 2016   Dr. Ali S. Vaziri, a gastroenterologist in private practice in Napa, California, agreed (without admitting any l...

Woman Excluded By OIG Indicted For Health Care Fraud for Failing to Notify Employer Home Health Agency of Her OIG Exclusion

In the past, individuals and entities excluded by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) have usually not been prosecuted for fraud. A recent...