Litigation

Rivkin Radler’s Michael Sirignano authored an article for the September 2 issue of the New York Law Journal entitled “As Telemedicine Expands, Insurance Fraud Grows.” The article discussed recent enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Justice and the recent Special Fraud Alert issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’…

If our most recent Fraud Week post (NY Chiropractor Billed for Non-Existent Acupuncture Services) didn’t already drive home the point, it is worth emphasizing that billing insurers for items or services that weren’t actually provided is always a bad idea.

On August 4, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Ariel Madero…

On August 15, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a Long Island chiropractor pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud for billing a private insurance company over $1 million for acupuncture services that were never performed. The investigation of Peter Adamczak was a joint effort by DOJ, the New York State Inspector General, and the…

On September 28, Rivkin Radler’s Jeff Kaiser will be a panelist at the Practising Law Institute’s program, Life Sciences 2022: Navigating Legal Challenges in Drug and Device Industries. The program is designed for attorneys and allied professionals who counsel pharmaceutical and life sciences companies.

Entitled “Enforcement Trends Impacting the Drug and Device Industries,” Jeff’s…

Healthcare fraud related to durable medical equipment (DME) is extremely costly to insurers, yet often continues without criminal or civil consequences. Rivkin Radler’s Michael Vanunu recently wrote an article on the topic for Law360.

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On August 3, North Country Neurology, P.C., a physician-owned medical practice located in Watertown, NY (the “Practice”), reached a settlement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York to pay $850,000 for submitting false Medicare claims for payment.

Among other things, the Practice admitted to having submitted 120 claims between September…

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that Reliance Medical Systems LLC, a Utah-based distributor of spinal implant devices, two of its individual owners, and two of its physician-owned distributorships (PODs) agreed to pay $1 million to resolve a lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act. Reliance allegedly operated the PODs as a vehicle…

On July 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert to caution healthcare practitioners who may wish to enter into arrangements with telehealth companies. The Alert describes several types of fraud schemes that have resulted in federal investigations and civil and/or criminal charges, particularly…

Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Services recently paid $875,000 to settle potential HIPAA violations after a cyberattack resulted in the unauthorized access of its patients’ protected health information. A hacker installed malware on the Center’s web server which contained electronic protected health information. More than 275,000 individuals were affected by the breach, which resulted…