False Claims Act

September 29, 2019
Avanir Pharmaceuticals (Avanir), a pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Aliso Viejo, California, was charged for paying kickbacks to a physician to induce prescriptions of its drug Nuedexta, the Department of Justice announced last week.  The Northern District of Ohio also announced indictments of four individuals, including former Avanir employees and one of the top...
September 15, 2019
Pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt ARD LLC (formerly known as Mallinckrodt ARD Inc. and previously Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. "Questcor"), has agreed to pay $15.4 million to resolve claims that Questcor paid illegal kickbacks to doctors, in the form of lavish dinners and entertainment, to induce prescriptions of the company’s drug, H.P. Acthar Gel (Acthar...
July 16, 2019
ITT Cannon has agreed to pay the United States $11 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that it supplied electrical connectors to the military that had not been properly tested, the Justice Department announced today.  ITT sold the untested connectors both directly to the Government and through distributors and other government contractors which incorporated...
June 16, 2019
The Department of Justice announced last week that the United States has filed a complaint in intervention against Smart Pharmacy Inc., and SP2 LLC, two compounding pharmacies located in Jacksonville, Florida. The complaint alleges that the pharmacies improperly included the drug aripiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic drug, in compounded pain creams in order to boost the...
May 24, 2019
The United States has filed a complaint in intervention against Doctor’s Choice Home Care Inc (Doctor’s Choice), Timothy Beach, and Stuart Christensen alleging False Claims Act violations arising from the alleged payment of kickbacks in the form of sham medical director agreements and payments to the spouses of referring physicians, the Department of Justice...
March 22, 2019
Covidien LP has agreed to pay $17,477,947 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by providing free or discounted practice development and market development support to physicians located in California and Florida to induce purchases of Covidien’s vein ablation products, the Department of Justice announced earlier this month.   The United...
March 9, 2019
Skyline Urology has agreed to pay the United States $1.85 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting improper claims to the Medicare program for evaluation and management services, the Department of Justice announced last month. Skyline Urology allegedly submitted false claims to the Medicare program for evaluation and management (E&...
February 16, 2019
Pathology laboratory company Inform Diagnostics has agreed to pay $63.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by engaging in improper financial relationships with referring physicians, the Justice Department announced last month.  Inform Diagnostics, formerly known as Miraca Life Sciences Inc., is headquartered in Irving, Texas, and was a...
January 30, 2019
Los Angeles-based Avanti Hospitals LLC (Avanti) and six of its owners will pay the federal government $8.1 million to settle claims that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting, or causing Avanti’s subsidiary, Memorial Hospital of Gardena (Gardena Hospital), to submit false claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs for medical services referred by a physician...
December 31, 2018
The Department of Justice obtained more than $2.8 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2018, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio and Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division announced earlier...