Archive for February 2021
HHA Owner First Charged With Stealing Money Meant to Treat COVID-19 Patients
A Michigan woman has become the first person in the country to be charged with stealing money meant to help healthcare professionals treat COVID-19 patients. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Anima Abbas previously owned 1 on 1 Home Health, a home health agency in Indiana, which she had closed in early 2020 after…
Read MoreHHS Rescinds Opioid Treatment Guidelines, Now What?
Just days after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the creation of new guidelines designed to increase access to medication-assisted treatment (i.e. buprenorphine) for opioid use disorder, the Biden administration rescinded them. The guidelines, which were issued in the final days of the Trump administration, made it easier for physicians with…
Read MoreLabs Beware: Testing and Billing Every Specimen May Result in a False Claims Lawsuit
Recently, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, announced an $845 million settlement for a False Claims with a substance abuse provider and a laboratory. The allegations were that a Connecticut substance abuse provider, Crossroads, Inc., submitted excessive urinalysis testing for its patients insured by Connecticut’s Medicaid program. The lab, Secon Laboratories, received…
Read MoreEHR Companies Increasingly the Focus of DOJ Fraud Investigators
A Massachusetts-based electronic health records (EHR) company will pay more than $18 million to resolve allegations that it paid illegal kickbacks to generate sales through its marketing programs. It is the latest in a number of EHR companies under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint alleges that athenahealth Inc. (Athena), violated the…
Read MoreSettling FCA Claim From the Great Beyond
Just because you die, it doesn’t mean you can’t be held accountable for illegal activity conducted while you were still alive, as evidenced by a recent settlement agreement announced by the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Orlando, in late January, announced that the estate of Dr. Patrick T.…
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