Your prescribed dose of health law news
Robert Clark of Pompano Beach, Florida recently pleaded guilty to his role in a Medicare fraud scheme. Clark and his co-conspirators purchased Medicare Beneficiary Identification numbers unlawfully and then billed Medicare for over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits. The conspirators also paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to marketers for referring Medicare beneficiaries for genetic tests.
Approximately $30…
On April 11, the medical director and the owner of a pain clinic in Kentucky were sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme to defraud federal healthcare programs and commercial insurance companies for medically unnecessary urine drug testing. Previously, in March 2023, the clinic’s medical director, William Lawrence Siefert, was convicted of healthcare…
On April 10, Virginia-based nurse practitioner Daphne Jenkins was sentenced to prison for her participation in a $7.8 million telemedicine fraud scheme that involved medically unnecessary orders for durable medical equipment (DME). As part of the scheme, Medicare claims were submitted based on false documentation and tainted by kickbacks.
The orders Jenkins signed were pre-populated…
The owner of Bergen Alliance Counseling Services in Paramus, New Jersey pleaded guilty to a run-of-the-mill healthcare fraud scheme in District Court in Newark on March 19. Maria Cosentino of Garfield, a licensed clinical social worker, admitted to billing private healthcare programs for counseling sessions that did not take place.
The practice provided counseling services…
A New York acupuncturist recently admitted to billing Amtrak’s health care benefit plan for services that were never provided and were medically unnecessary. From January 2019 through June 2022, Punson Figueroa of Long Island City, New York paid Amtrak employees hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks in order to use their personal and…
On February 26, David Weathers of the Bronx pleaded guilty in federal court in New Jersey for his role in a COVID-19 kickback conspiracy. The government had charged Weathers with soliciting kickbacks in return for referrals of COVID-19 test samples, in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).
At the other end of the scheme…
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey recently announced a $750,000 settlement with Sentynl Therapeutics Inc., a California-based specialty pharmaceutical company. The settlement resolved allegations that Sentynl improperly provided kickbacks to a physician to induce prescriptions of its opioid products in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).
The Government alleged that…
A March 11 article in Part B News, “Warning: Minor Errors Can Mean Big Takebacks for AWV Claims,” discussed how compliance shortcomings can cause problems for claims to Medicare for annual wellness visits (AWVs). Rivkin Radler’s Mary Aperance was quoted in the article.
“Routine internal audits should be conducted to hone in…
On March 4, the New York Attorney General announced an $8.6 million settlement with Fulton Commons Care Center, a nursing home located in East Meadow, NY. The settlement resolves an action brought against Fulton in 2022 claiming financial fraud, physical abuse, mistreatment of residents, and covering up resident complaints.
The AG had previously sued the…
On Thursday, March 7, in the next installment of Rivkin Radler’s Healthcare Compliance Lunch & Learn series, Rivkin Radler’s Tamika Hardy, Ada Janocinska and Syma Levine will present “Physician Employment Arrangements: Assuring Compliance while Maximizing Opportunities.” The program will take place from 12:00 noon to 1:00 PM Eastern time via Zoom.
Some of the topics…
