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…

As part of its 2023 state budget, New York State has allocated $1.2 billion for the payment of bonuses to certain frontline healthcare workers. This bonus program is intended to reward healthcare workers for their services during the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote employee retention and recruitment in the healthcare sector. Qualified employers who wish…

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…

On July 21, Amazon confirmed that it intends to acquire One Medical for approximately $3.9 billion in an all-cash transaction. One Medical is a membership-based, technology-driven, primary care and telehealth organization with about 767,000 members as of the end of March 2022. The deal strengthens Amazon’s growing connections to the healthcare sphere, as the e-commerce…

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