ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
False Claims Act Cases Against Healthcare Industry
Government Announces Another Large Whistleblower Award
Of the $3.7 billion in 2017 false claim settlements and judgments, $2.4 billion involved false claims from the healthcare industry. Typically, these false claims cases involved false claims for reimbursement, kickbacks, and other fraudulent schemes against the government’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The vast majority of False Claims Act suits, or “qui tams,” are brought by whistleblowers, also known as “relators.” The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced another large settlement of a false claims qui tam against a medical device manufacturer.[1] The manufacturer will pay $33.2 million to resolve the suit and the whistleblower/relator will receive over $ 5.6 million as a reward for bringing the manufacturer’s fraud to light.
In the case, the relator and the government alleged that the manufacturer knowingly sold unreliable diagnostic testing devices meant to help emergency room teams diagnose acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, drug overdoses and other critical health conditions. The suit alleged that the manufacturer knew of complaints about the faulty devices, but failed to take any corrective action, and continued to sell the devices anyway. The DOJ stipulated that the settlement did not include any admission of liability on the manufacturer’s part.
The California and San Francisco whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent whistleblowers with information of false claims submitted to the government by a variety of healthcare providers including pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, labs, clinics, hospitals, and physician groups. We also handle whistleblower cases before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding tax avoidance schemes and before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in securities and investment fraud cases. If you have credible information for a false claims whistleblower case or any other whistleblower case in California, call us today at (415)441-8669 and we can help.
Proper Procedures Are Important
If you are aware of a false claim against the government, you might miss out on a reward if you merely call a government office to report fraud. Do not make any calls to the government until you have consulted with counsel. To be eligible for a whistleblower reward under the False Claims Act and other whistleblower programs you must report the fraud through appropriate and timely court filings or an application addressed to the appropriate office of the applicable government agency. This is where the California whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. can help. Out attorneys know the appropriate procedures for your type of allegation and know how to organize and present your credible, original information and documentation in the most effective way.
Whistleblower cases are lengthy and complicated, but the rewards can be very substantial. False Claims Act cases and other whistleblower cases such as for tax avoidance or securities fraud may result in whistleblower/relator awards as high as 15-30% of the amount the government recovers as a result of your information. The law may also protect you if your employer retaliates against you for your whistleblowing and attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. can represent you in any action for illegal retaliation by your employer against you.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one has information regarding false claims in San Francisco or elsewhere in California, offshore tax avoidance schemes against the IRS, or securities fraud in violation of SEC and CFTC regulations, contact the Evans Law Firm whistleblower and false claims attorneys at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving financial elder abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
