How to Challenge an OIG Exclusion Action from Medicare

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Many health professionals don’t understand the significant repercussions that an exclusion action by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) can have on their professional careers and future employment. Whether you are a physician, nurse, dentist, psychologist or other health professionals, if you allow yourself to be excluded from the Medicare program, devastating economic results may follow.

The administrative process by which you may challenge a proposal from the OIG for most permissive or mandatory exclusion is challenging. In most cases, you will need experienced legal representation.  Below are the steps in the process you must follow to protect your career and your livelihood.

The Administrative Process to Challenge OIG Exclusion Actions.

1.    Notice of Intent (NOI) received: If the OIG is proposing to exclude a person or entity from Medicare, it will send out a letter called a “Notice of Intent” or “NOI.” This will contain the reasons for the exclusion and will detail hearing or appeal rights.  It is very important to make sure that your state licensing board and Medicare have your correct current address on file because the address which Medicare has will be where the NOI is mailed.  (Note:  the OIG may not send a NOI for mandatory exclusions which carry a 5-year minimum exclusion period.)  You will not have a second chance. Regardless, you usually only have 30 days to submit a written response requesting a hearing and containing information the OIG will consider in making its decision.  In some cases, providers may have the opportunity to present oral arguments before OIG officials. You must make sure that your request is received by the deadline, not just mailed by the deadline.  Send your request by a fast, reliable means (such as Federal Express or U.S. express mail) that you can track; or register for and file it electronically online.  Read the instructions in the letter and follow them. Be sure you get a receipt when you file.

2.    Notice of Exclusion (NOE): Sometimes the OIG will send a “Notice of Exclusion” or “NOE” if it decides to exclude a provider regardless of the response provided to a NOI or in certain cases of mandatory exclusions or certain permissive exclusions where no NOI is ever sent. Medicare exclusions usually take effect 20 days after the NOE is mailed. In cases involving fraud, kickbacks and other prohibited activities, a Notice of Proposal to Exclude or NOPE may be sent instead.

3.    Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Hearing: Providers have the right to appeal a proposed exclusion by requesting an administrative hearing (similar to a trial) before an “Administrative Law Judge” or “ALJ.” ALJ’s are part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If you wish to request an ALJ hearing, you must do so within 60 days of receiving the Notice of Exclusion (or according to the instructions), and you must be prepared to raise all of your arguments over issues regarding the decision itself, the proposed exclusion period, mitigating factors or other aspects of the action.

4.    Department Appeals Board (DAB): If you disagree with the ALJ hearing decision, you can further appeal to the HHS “Departmental Appeals Board” or “DAB.” This is a written appeal which will be required to set forth legal errors which were made in the ALJ hearing.

5.    Judicial Review: If you disagree with the decision made by the DAB, your only option is to challenge the final decision in a U.S. District Court.

MOST IMPORTANT, consult a health law attorney experienced in such matters. The consequences of  Medicare exclusion, even a permissive exclusion for one year or three years, are severe. Most people do not realize this until it is too late; then it is too late (in many, but not all, cases).

To learn more about the consequences of OIG exclusion, click here to read one of my prior blogs.

Contact Attorney Experienced in Defending Against Action to Exclude an Individual or Business from the Medicare Program.

The attorneys of The Health Law Firm have experience in dealing with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and defending against action to exclude an individual or business entity from the Medicare Program, in administrative hearings on this type of action, in submitting applications requesting reinstatement to the Medicare Program after exclusion, and removal from the List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE).

To contact The Health Law Firm please call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com.


About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

KeyWords: Office of Inspector General (OIG) Medicare exclusion attorney, OIG investigation legal defense representation, OIG exclusion defense attorney, OIG exclusion defense lawyer, Medicare audit defense legal counsel, Office of Inspector General (OIG) Medicare exclusion defense counsel, Medicare audit defense attorney, Office of Inspector General (OIG) Medicare exclusion legal defense counsel, attorney legal representation for OIG notice of intent to exclude, Medicare exclusion hearing defense attorney, Medicare administrative law judge hearing legal representation, Medicare administrative law judge hearing defense attorney, Medicare and Medicaid audit defense attorney, legal representation for Medicare and Medicaid audits, health care fraud defense attorney, legal representation for health care fraud, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), legal representation for CMS investigations, health care professional defense attorney, legal representation for health care professionals, legal representation for fraud investigations, reviews for The Health Law Firm, The Health Law Firm attorney reviews, healthcare fraud representation, allegations of healthcare fraud, representation for CMS investigations, representation for healthcare investigations, representation for medical overbilling, False Claims attorney, FCA lawyer, FCA attorney, representation for submitting False Claims

“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 2019 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

By |2024-03-14T10:00:13-04:00July 9, 2019|Categories: Pharmacy Law Blog, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on How to Challenge an OIG Exclusion Action from Medicare

So, the ZPIC Medicare Auditor Wants to Talk to You? What You Should Expect

George Indest HeadshotBy George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

You are a physician, nurse or other health care provider who bills Medicare. You have received that dreaded letter from the Zone Program Integrity Contractor (ZPIC) for Medicare advising you that it is auditing you for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). You know that the words “Program Integrity” by themselves mean that possible fraud is being investigated, at least that is the suspicion giving rise to this particular audit.

To read an earlier blog which I wrote on tips for responding to ZPIC audits, click here.

You have dutifully contacted an experienced health law attorney to aid you in responding to the ZPIC’ s request for records and information. You have obtained all of the requested medical records documentation, authoritative medical journal articles and other information that may be useful in supporting the care you delivered and for which you billed, added explanatory notes (clearly and contemporaneously dated, of course) where necessary or where records were missing, and done all you can to fully and completely respond to the audit.

After the Initial Audit Response and Site Visit.

Now, several weeks later, the ZPIC auditor/investigator contacts you and advises you that he would like you to come to his office to answer a few questions. The ZPIC auditor/investigator states that this is “just routine” and should only take approximately 20 minutes.

After discussing this with your attorney, knowing that you have committed no fraud and that your medical records are in pretty good shape to support your billing, you decide to go to the ZPIC office for the interview. (Note: I know that many attorneys would recommend against this action, but often we advise a client, with the right set of facts, of course, to do this.) What should you expect?

What to Expect When You Show up to Be Interviewed by the ZPIC Auditor.

Although we cannot guarantee you that you will experience the same as we have in the past, this is what happened often enough with us where it seems to be somewhat common practice in such audits.

1. Expect the ZPIC office to be in a building with good security, including magnetic/electronic scanning for guns and weapons, like at the airport or court house. Do not attempt to take any type of weapon inside the building, including pen knives on key chains and tear gas or pepper spray canisters.

2. Bring a valid government identification card with your photograph. If you are with an attorney or a consultant, that person will also need one. One of the first things that will happen is that you will be asked to show your identification cards to prove you are who you say you are.

3. Be sure you have your correct office address on file with Medicare. If the auditors show up at an address you have listed and your practice is not there, you will either get a letter automatically terminating your Medicare billing privileges or you will be called down for this interrogation by the ZPIC. This is a primary reason for such ZPIC interrogations. Be sure your physical office address, including suite number, apartment number, office number, etc., are correctly reflected in the Provider Enrollment and Chain/Ownership System (PECOS), the electronic portal through which Medicare providers enroll in Medicare.

4. You aren’t going to be interviewed by just one person and it isn’t going to be just “20 minutes.”

5. In most cases, there will be three or more auditors/investigators involved in the interview with you. This is why it is a good idea to bring your attorney and her paralegal so that you also have some support, as well. The least number of auditor/investigators that we have ever seen involved in such interviews is two. Don’t be surprised if there are three or four.

6. The questioning and interviewing will take much longer than you expected. Plan on taking the rest of the day off so that you are not rushed and do not feel pressured to get it over with fast. It is not going to be over with fast.

7. Don’t joke around with the ZPIC auditors. This is a very serious matter. Many talented government investigators will attempt to joke and make light of things in order to get you to let your guard down. Do not play into this. Be serious and act seriously at all times.

8. You are not in an endurance contest. Ask for bathroom breaks, water breaks or just a break to talk with your attorney, as many times as you desire. Do this at least once each hour. This will help to keep your blood circulating and keep you alert.

9. You will be confronted with what the ZPIC auditors believe they have found that violates Medicare regulations. This may include, for example, billing services for patients who were dead at the time, billing for services on dates after the patient was no longer qualified to receive them, billing for services that were billed by another provider, etc. Do not guess at why this happened if you did not know for a fact. You can advise the investigator that you will take down the investigation, look into it and provide the information to him or her at a later date.

10. Don’t be surprised if the ZPIC auditor has incorrect information. Often the ZPIC will have confused information on two different Medicare beneficiaries with the same names or whose Medicare numbers were incorrectly recorded. For example, in one recent ZPIC investigator interview with my client, the investigator accused the physician of billing for services provided to a patient who had been deceased for two years. The physician had just seen the patient on a follow-up visit a month prior to the interview. The ZPIC had confused a dead patient who had the same name with the live patient. This is not uncommon.

11. Don’t be surprised if the ZPIC auditor asks you about other Medicare provider’s billings for the same patient. This also happened to a client of mine in a recent case. The ZPIC investigator questioned why the XYZ company would have billed for the same services as those provided by my client, a solo practitioner. My client did not know. He correctly told the auditor that he did not know why the other party had billed Medicare for the same services, but he had provided the services to his patient and he had billed for the services. He could not know whey someone else did something.

12. If there have been intervening factors affecting your billing practices, disclose these to the investigator. In one case, my client had changed software for her electronic health records and billing. One of the reasons this was necessary was because of bugs that made the billings sometimes unreliable. Records more than four (4) years old were no longer available. The client disclosed this.

13. Be sure you are able to reconcile the number of patients seen per day, the number of hours the CPT codes billed to Medicare are supposed to reflect, and that these seem reasonable. If you are billing time-based CPT codes for patients that it would take you 27 hours to see in a day, you are in trouble. You must know this ahead of time and either have a reasonable answer to address the problem (e.g., an incorrect date entry in the billing software caused two days worth of services to accidentally be billed for the same date of service) or correct the over-billing error.

14. Know what rules, regulations and guidelines apply to the billings for the CPT codes you are billing. Check to see if there are local coverage decisions (LCDs) from your area Medicare Administrative Carrier (MAC) or National Coverage Decisions (NCDs) from CMS and know them. Be sure you have followed them and are following them.

15. Know the licensure rules and regulations for your profession, as well as the Medicare guidelines for billing for your profession. Sometimes billing for what an assistant, trainee, or ancillary provider does is allowed, and sometimes it isn’t. If you bill for what an assistant does, be sure you know the rules and are properly billing. The ZPIC investigator certainly will ask questions about this.

16. Your health record entries, assessments, evaluations, progress notes, etc., are required to be made contemporaneously with your delivery of the services. This generally means within 24 hours, as a rule of thumb. Records made a week or a month later are not considered to be reliable or accurate. So be sure you have made and are making your records contemporaneously with seeing the patient or providing the services.

17. Check the location code for the claims you have submitted. Make sure they reflect the correct site that the services were delivered. There could be differences in payments based on the site/location code. You will be asked about this if there are discrepancies.

18. If you identify problems and issues when preparing for your ZPIC interview, go ahead and correct them. This way you will be able to show you have made an honest mistake, have changed your procedures and the mistake(s) will not happen again in the future. Sometimes this may require terminating your billing company, purchasing new software, retaining a professional consultant, asking for an educational site visit from the MAC, and obtaining additional continuing education on billing practices and procedures for you and your staff (some of which CMS offers online).

We have many helpful resources on our webpage and YouTube page. Click here to view our video Q&A on ZPIC audits for more information.

To read an additional blog I wrote on preparing for an audit, click here.

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late; Consult with a Health Law Attorney Experienced in Medicare and Medicaid Issues Now.

The attorneys of The Health Law Firm represent healthcare providers in Medicare audits, ZPIC audits and RAC audits throughout Florida and across the U.S. They also represent physicians, medical groups, nursing homes, home health agencies, pharmacies, hospitals and other healthcare providers and institutions in Medicare and Medicaid investigations, audits, recovery actions and termination from the Medicare or Medicaid Program.

For more information please visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com or call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001.

About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

Keywords: Zone Program Integrity Contractors (ZPICs), ZPIC audit defense attorney, ZPIC defense lawyer, representation for ZPIC investigations, representation for ZPIC audit, ZPIC audit lawyers, ZPIC representation, ZPIC investigation representation, Medicare audit defense legal counsel, Medicare audit attorney, legal representation for ZPIC letters, legal representation for ZPIC audits, Medicare and Medicaid audits, legal representation for Medicare and Medicaid audits, health care fraud defense attorney, preparing for ZPIC audit, legal representation for health care fraud, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), legal representation for CMS investigations, Office of Inspector General (OIG), health care professional defense attorney, legal representation for health care professionals, legal representation for fraud investigations, reviews for The Health Law Firm, The Health Law Firm attorney reviews, additional documentation requests (ADRs) for pre-payment and post-payment reviews, initiation of Medicare suspension of payments lawyer, healthcare fraud representation, allegations of healthcare fraud, representation for CMS investigations, representation for healthcare investigations, representation for overbilling, False Claims attorney, FCA lawyer, FCA attorney, representation for submitting False Claims

“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 2019 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

By |2024-03-14T10:00:15-04:00May 10, 2019|Categories: The Health Law Firm Blog|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on So, the ZPIC Medicare Auditor Wants to Talk to You? What You Should Expect

NYC Doctor Gets Prison Term for Posing as Clinic Owner in $30 Million Fraud Scheme

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On August 22, 2018, a doctor received a sentence of one year and a day in prison from a New York federal court for his part in a $30 million scheme to defraud Medicare and the state Medicaid program. The doctor admitted to posing as the owner of a medical clinic and falsely claiming to have seen hundreds of patients. He pled guilty on January 11, 2018, to health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Lies and Cover-ups.

The New York City doctor accepted responsibility for falsely posing as the owner of two medical clinics that were actually owned by a corrupt businessman, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Under New York state law, medical clinics must be owned and operated by a medical professional. The businessman was able to evade the requirements of the law by hiring doctors to pose as the owners of each clinic.

The corrupt businessman owned and operated six medical clinics in Brooklyn between 2007 and 2013 that fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid. Approximately $30 million was billed for services and supplies that were not provided, according to the indictment and other documents filed in federal court, as well as statements made during the doctor’s plea proceeding and sentencing.

Additionally, the doctor fabricated false medical records to support the fraudulent reimbursement claims and wrote prescriptions and referrals for medically unnecessary tests and supplies, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The Punishment.

U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield sentenced the doctor to three years of supervised release in addition to the prison term for his role in the scheme. He was also ordered to pay restitution of approximately $1.83 million and to forfeit $269,412 in unlawful gains. The three other defendants involved in this case, a doctor, a physical therapist and an occupational therapist, are scheduled to go to trial at a later date. Click here to learn more.

“The Medicare and Medicaid programs are intended to provide essential medical services to the elderly and the needy, not to enrich corrupt doctors and other fraudsters,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement. “Today’s sentence sends a strong message that those who cheat Medicare and Medicaid, including physicians who abuse their licenses and professional oaths, will be held accountable.” You can view the U.S. Attorney’s press release here.

To read about a similar case of fraud, click here to read one of my prior blogs.

This is a Dangerous Pitfall of Which all Doctors and Dentists Must Be Aware.

This is the type of situation we often see in which a doctor or dentist is victimized by dishonest and corrupt scofflaws, especially here in Florida. Most often an older physician who is retired or semi-retired is asked to become the “medical director” or “dental director” of a clinic that is owned in whole or in part by someone else. The physician may not even know who its true owners are. Later the physician or dentist is asked to serve as the “president” or as a “director” of the company and his/her name is placed on all the corporate papers. The trouble really begins, however, when the true owner(s) places the physician’s or dentist’s name on corporate papers and licensing papers as an “owner,” “shareholder” or “member” of the business, when the physician has paid nothing for the business and is not truly the owner.

If a physician or dentist becomes aware of such a scheme and gets out of it as soon as she or her finds out, the physician or dentist may be able to avoid prosecution or liability. However, if the physician or dentist continues to do business with the true owners as an “owner on paper,” “shell owner,” or “sham owner,” (they all mean the same thing, “fraudulent owner”) then he or she can be in for some serious civil and criminal liability.

There can be serious criminal penalties, such as the one reported on in this blog. For example, in Florida, it is a felony for a non-dentist (meaning a dentist not licensed in Florida) to own or control a dental clinic in Florida. It is also a criminal offense for a layperson (or a business entity owned by lay persons), to own or control a medical clinic, unless it goes through the strict health care clinic license requirements that Florida law requires. If the clinic is owned or operated illegally (even if it’s “just on paper”), then all of the bills it issue are also illegal.

Contact Health Law Attorneys Experienced in Handling Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Cases.

The Health Law Firm’s attorneys routinely represent physicians, medical groups, clinics, pharmacies, durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers, home health agencies, nursing homes and other healthcare providers in Medicare and Medicaid investigations, audits and recovery actions. They also represent them in preparing and submitting corrective action plans (CAPs), requests for reconsideration, and appeal hearings, including Medicare administrative hearings before an administrative law judge.

To contact The Health Law Firm please call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com.

Sources:

Hanson, Joyce. “Doc Gets Year In Prison For Role In $30M Medicare Fraud.” Law360. (August 22, 2018). Web.

“NYC Doctor Gets Prison Term for Role in $30M Fraud Scam.” Bloomberg Law. (August 22, 2018). Web.

About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

KeyWords: Medicare and Medicaid fraud representation, false claims attorney, false claims representation, representation for overbilling, representation for DOJ investigations, fraud defense attorney, representation for medicare issues, representation for Medicaid issues, Medicare lawyer, Medicaid lawyer, health care fraud investigation representation, health care fraud defense representation, Medicare fraud representation, health care professional representation, representation for physicians, representation for physician reimbursement, licensure defense attorney, professional license representation, licensure defense representation, representation for health care professionals, The Health Law Firm reviews, reviews of The Health Law Firm attorneys, Florida health law defense lawyer, owner on paper, shell owner, or sham owner, paper owner, Florida dental clinic ownership, health care clinic license

“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 2018 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

 

U.S. Court in Florida Dismisses Whistleblower’s Complaint Against Nuclear Pharmacy

PS 4 Indest-2009-3By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On September 28, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed a relator’s (whistle blower’s) False Claims Act (FCA) complaint against a nuclear pharmacy in Tampa. The court found that the relator failed to plead fraud with the required amount of specificity that the law requires.  The case awas filed against GE Healthcare, Inc.’s nuclear pharmacy.

The Allegations.

GE Healthcare operates 31 nuclear pharmacies in the United States, where it produces radiopharmaceuticals through a process of compounding drugs.  The relator was a board-certified nuclear pharmacist who formerly worked at GE Healthcare, Inc.’s nuclear pharmacy in Tampa, Florida. The relator’s allegations included the manner in which GE compounded and labeled radiopharmaceuticals. More specifically, the whistle blower claimed that GE sold diluted and expired drugs. Additionally, the whistle blower alleged that GE falsely inflated the reimbursement rate for certain drugs by providing false sales data to Medicare.

GE argued that the realtor’s claims should be dismissed pursuant to the FCA’s public disclosure bar because the allegations overlapped with an action filed by a different relator, James Wagel, in 2006. To read about this FCA case, click here.

The Court’s Decision. 

The court found that Sunil Patel’s allegations were not “based on” or “substantially the same as” the allegations in the prior public disclosures. However, the court dismissed the realtor’s claims on another ground:  failing to plead the allegedly fraudulent claims with sufficient particularity. According to the court, the allegations that defendant “presented or caused to be presented” a false claim fell “well short of alleging ‘exact billing data.'”  In other words, the relator failed to plead one or more false claims by giving the specifics, such as date, amount, patient, billing code, amount paid by the government, etc.  The court found that the relator identified no “particular facts about the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and ‘how’ of fraudulent submissions to the government.”

The case is United States ex rel. Patel v. GE Healthcare Inc., No. 8:14-cv-120-T-33TGW (M.D. Fla. Sept. 28, 2017).

Click here to read one of my prior blogs on a similar FCA case involving a pharmaceutical company.

Specifics of the False Claims Are Required for Any Qui Tam Whistle Blower’s Case.

This is one of the biggest short comings we see in potential clients who contact us with information about false claims being submitted by their employers or other healthcare providers.  They do not have the specifics of any single false claim.  Yet the law requires this or a whistle blower’s case can get dismissed by the court outright.  You can do an awful lot of work investigating, pleading and litigating a whistle blower’s case only to have the court dismiss it without its ever getting anywhere near a trial.  Even if a scheme or system is inherently fraudulent, you must be able to show one or more claims that were submitted were actually false claims.

We advise health care professionals who consult us with possible False Claims Act/whistle blowers cases, be sure you have the details, and preferably copies of the documents, that show a false bill was submitted to the government.  This can be a CMS Form 1500 or an explanation of benefits that the patient and the insurer or facility receives back.  Sometimes you can get these form the patient if you do not have access to these from the employer.  But without a false claim and, preferably, a number of false claims, you don’t really have a False Claims Act suit.

Contact Health Law Attorneys Experienced with Qui Tam or Whistle Blower Cases.

Attorneys with The Health Law Firm also represent health care professionals and health facilities in qui tam or whistleblower cases both in defending such claims and in bringing such claims. We have developed relationships with recognized experts in health care accounting, health care financing, utilization review, medical review, filling, coding, and other services that assist us in such matters. We have represented doctors, nurses and others as relators in bringing qui tam or whistleblower cases, as well.

To contact The Health Law Firm, please call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com

Sources:

Fraud and Compliance. “U.S. Court in Florida Dismisses Whistleblower Action Against Nuclear Pharmacy.” AHLA Weekly. (October 6, 2017). Web.

Mayo, Rebecca. “Evidence of likely submission not enough to prove FCA violation.” Wolters Kluwer Health Law Daily. (October 2, 2017). Web.

About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law.  He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice.  Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida area.  www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

KeyWords: Health care fraud defense attorney, legal representation for allegations of health care fraud, False Claims Act (FCA) attorney, FCA defense attorney, False Claims attorney, legal representation for FCA investigations, legal representation for FCA complaints, Whistleblower attorney, Whistleblower defense attorney, legal representation for Whistleblower investigations, legal representation for Whistleblower complaints, qui tam attorney, qui tam defense attorney, legal representation for qui tam cases, legal representation for qui tam investigations, FCA legal representation, relator attorney, relator defense attorney, health law defense attorney, The Health Law Firm, reviews of The Health Law Firm, The Health Law Firm attorney reviews

“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.Copyright © 2017 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

U.S. Court in Florida Dismisses Whistleblower’s Complaint Against Nuclear Pharmacy

PS 4 Indest-2009-3By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On September 28, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed a relator’s (whistle blower’s) False Claims Act (FCA) complaint against a nuclear pharmacy in Tampa. The court found that the relator failed to plead fraud with the required amount of specificity that the law requires.  The case awas filed against GE Healthcare, Inc.’s nuclear pharmacy.

The Allegations.

GE Healthcare operates 31 nuclear pharmacies in the United States, where it produces radiopharmaceuticals through a process of compounding drugs.  The relator was a board-certified nuclear pharmacist who formerly worked at GE Healthcare, Inc.’s nuclear pharmacy in Tampa, Florida. The relator’s allegations included the manner in which GE compounded and labeled radiopharmaceuticals. More specifically, the whistle blower claimed that GE sold diluted and expired drugs. Additionally, the whistle blower alleged that GE falsely inflated the reimbursement rate for certain drugs by providing false sales data to Medicare.

GE argued that the realtor’s claims should be dismissed pursuant to the FCA’s public disclosure bar because the allegations overlapped with an action filed by a different relator, James Wagel, in 2006. To read about this FCA case, click here.

The Court’s Decision. 

The court found that Sunil Patel’s allegations were not “based on” or “substantially the same as” the allegations in the prior public disclosures. However, the court dismissed the realtor’s claims on another ground:  failing to plead the allegedly fraudulent claims with sufficient particularity. According to the court, the allegations that defendant “presented or caused to be presented” a false claim fell “well short of alleging ‘exact billing data.'”  In other words, the relator failed to plead one or more false claims by giving the specifics, such as date, amount, patient, billing code, amount paid by the government, etc.  The court found that the relator identified no “particular facts about the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and ‘how’ of fraudulent submissions to the government.”

The case is United States ex rel. Patel v. GE Healthcare Inc., No. 8:14-cv-120-T-33TGW (M.D. Fla. Sept. 28, 2017).

Click here to read one of my prior blogs on a similar FCA case involving a pharmaceutical company.

Specifics of the False Claims Are Required for Any Qui Tam Whistle Blower’s Case.

This is one of the biggest short comings we see in potential clients who contact us with information about false claims being submitted by their employers or other healthcare providers.  They do not have the specifics of any single false claim.  Yet the law requires this or a whistle blower’s case can get dismissed by the court outright.  You can do an awful lot of work investigating, pleading and litigating a whistle blower’s case only to have the court dismiss it without its ever getting anywhere near a trial.  Even if a scheme or system is inherently fraudulent, you must be able to show one or more claims that were submitted were actually false claims.

We advise health care professionals who consult us with possible False Claims Act/whistle blowers cases, be sure you have the details, and preferably copies of the documents, that show a false bill was submitted to the government.  This can be a CMS Form 1500 or an explanation of benefits that the patient and the insurer or facility receives back.  Sometimes you can get these form the patient if you do not have access to these from the employer.  But without a false claim and, preferably, a number of false claims, you don’t really have a False Claims Act suit.

Contact Health Law Attorneys Experienced with Qui Tam or Whistle Blower Cases.

Attorneys with The Health Law Firm also represent health care professionals and health facilities in qui tam or whistleblower cases both in defending such claims and in bringing such claims. We have developed relationships with recognized experts in health care accounting, health care financing, utilization review, medical review, filling, coding, and other services that assist us in such matters. We have represented doctors, nurses and others as relators in bringing qui tam or whistleblower cases, as well.

To contact The Health Law Firm, please call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com

Sources:

Fraud and Compliance. “U.S. Court in Florida Dismisses Whistleblower Action Against Nuclear Pharmacy.” AHLA Weekly. (October 6, 2017). Web.

Mayo, Rebecca. “Evidence of likely submission not enough to prove FCA violation.” Wolters Kluwer Health Law Daily. (October 2, 2017). Web.

About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law.  He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice.  Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida area.  www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

KeyWords: Health care fraud defense attorney, legal representation for allegations of health care fraud, False Claims Act (FCA) attorney, FCA defense attorney, False Claims attorney, legal representation for FCA investigations, legal representation for FCA complaints, Whistleblower attorney, Whistleblower defense attorney, legal representation for Whistleblower investigations, legal representation for Whistleblower complaints, qui tam attorney, qui tam defense attorney, legal representation for qui tam cases, legal representation for qui tam investigations, FCA legal representation, relator attorney, relator defense attorney, health law defense attorney, The Health Law Firm, reviews of The Health Law Firm, The Health Law Firm attorney reviews

“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.Copyright © 2017 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

U.S. Court in Florida Dismisses Whistleblower’s Complaint Against Nuclear Pharmacy

PS 4 Indest-2009-3By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On September 28, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed a relator’s (whistle blower’s) False Claims Act (FCA) complaint against a nuclear pharmacy in Tampa. The court found that the relator failed to plead fraud with the required amount of specificity that the law requires.  The case awas filed against GE Healthcare, Inc.’s nuclear pharmacy.

The Allegations.

GE Healthcare operates 31 nuclear pharmacies in the United States, where it produces radiopharmaceuticals through a process of compounding drugs.  The relator was a board-certified nuclear pharmacist who formerly worked at GE Healthcare, Inc.’s nuclear pharmacy in Tampa, Florida. The relator’s allegations included the manner in which GE compounded and labeled radiopharmaceuticals. More specifically, the whistle blower claimed that GE sold diluted and expired drugs. Additionally, the whistle blower alleged that GE falsely inflated the reimbursement rate for certain drugs by providing false sales data to Medicare.

GE argued that the realtor’s claims should be dismissed pursuant to the FCA’s public disclosure bar because the allegations overlapped with an action filed by a different relator, James Wagel, in 2006. To read about this FCA case, click here.

The Court’s Decision. 

The court found that Sunil Patel’s allegations were not “based on” or “substantially the same as” the allegations in the prior public disclosures. However, the court dismissed the realtor’s claims on another ground:  failing to plead the allegedly fraudulent claims with sufficient particularity. According to the court, the allegations that defendant “presented or caused to be presented” a false claim fell “well short of alleging ‘exact billing data.'”  In other words, the relator failed to plead one or more false claims by giving the specifics, such as date, amount, patient, billing code, amount paid by the government, etc.  The court found that the relator identified no “particular facts about the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and ‘how’ of fraudulent submissions to the government.”

The case is United States ex rel. Patel v. GE Healthcare Inc., No. 8:14-cv-120-T-33TGW (M.D. Fla. Sept. 28, 2017).

Click here to read one of my prior blogs on a similar FCA case involving a pharmaceutical company.

Specifics of the False Claims Are Required for Any Qui Tam Whistle Blower’s Case.

This is one of the biggest short comings we see in potential clients who contact us with information about false claims being submitted by their employers or other healthcare providers.  They do not have the specifics of any single false claim.  Yet the law requires this or a whistle blower’s case can get dismissed by the court outright.  You can do an awful lot of work investigating, pleading and litigating a whistle blower’s case only to have the court dismiss it without its ever getting anywhere near a trial.  Even if a scheme or system is inherently fraudulent, you must be able to show one or more claims that were submitted were actually false claims.

We advise health care professionals who consult us with possible False Claims Act/whistle blowers cases, be sure you have the details, and preferably copies of the documents, that show a false bill was submitted to the government.  This can be a CMS Form 1500 or an explanation of benefits that the patient and the insurer or facility receives back.  Sometimes you can get these form the patient if you do not have access to these from the employer.  But without a false claim and, preferably, a number of false claims, you don’t really have a False Claims Act suit.

Contact Health Law Attorneys Experienced with Qui Tam or Whistle Blower Cases.

Attorneys with The Health Law Firm also represent health care professionals and health facilities in qui tam or whistleblower cases both in defending such claims and in bringing such claims. We have developed relationships with recognized experts in health care accounting, health care financing, utilization review, medical review, filling, coding, and other services that assist us in such matters. We have represented doctors, nurses and others as relators in bringing qui tam or whistleblower cases, as well.

To contact The Health Law Firm, please call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com

Sources:

Fraud and Compliance. “U.S. Court in Florida Dismisses Whistleblower Action Against Nuclear Pharmacy.” AHLA Weekly. (October 6, 2017). Web.

Mayo, Rebecca. “Evidence of likely submission not enough to prove FCA violation.” Wolters Kluwer Health Law Daily. (October 2, 2017). Web.

About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law.  He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice.  Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida area.  www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

KeyWords: Health care fraud defense attorney, legal representation for allegations of health care fraud, False Claims Act (FCA) attorney, FCA defense attorney, False Claims attorney, legal representation for FCA investigations, legal representation for FCA complaints, Whistleblower attorney, Whistleblower defense attorney, legal representation for Whistleblower investigations, legal representation for Whistleblower complaints, qui tam attorney, qui tam defense attorney, legal representation for qui tam cases, legal representation for qui tam investigations, FCA legal representation, relator attorney, relator defense attorney, health law defense attorney, The Health Law Firm, reviews of The Health Law Firm, The Health Law Firm attorney reviews

“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.Copyright © 2017 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

Go to Top