Archive for February 2020
Woman Sentenced for Healthcare Fraud Has Sentence Commuted
A Hialeah woman who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for her role in a multimillion-dollar healthcare fraud case was among a group of people to have their sentences commuted by President Donald Trump last week. Judith Negron, the owner of American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), a fraudulent Miami-area mental healthcare company, served ten years…
Read MoreTenet Settles Yet Another FCA claim
Tenet Healthcare Corporation has agreed to settle yet another False Claims Act lawsuit. The healthcare giant is no stranger to such litigation, having settled a number of claims in the past few years. On Feb. 11, Tenet and its affiliated hospital, Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California, agreed to pay $1.41 million to…
Read MoreProsecutors Target “Drug Dealers in Lab Coats”
The first few weeks of the new year have seen a high number of healthcare professionals who have pleaded guilty, were convicted or sentenced on charges relating to the illegal prescribing of narcotics, including one who prosecutors described as “the latest drug dealer in a lab coat.†The cases are tied to an ongoing crackdown…
Read MoreOIG Gives Drug Manufacturer Green Light to Cover Patient Expenses
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) in a Jan. 21 Advisory Opinion (No. 20-02) approved an agreement under which a pharmaceutical manufacturer would provide travel, lodging and other expenses to financially needy patients prescribed the manufacturer’s personalized medication. In doing so, the OIG noted that such an arrangement could potentially violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, (AKS)…
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