False Claims Act Update & Alert
	Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund | Washington, D.C. | WWW.TAF.ORG           May 1, 2008
		Subscribe to this FREE Newsletter Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz n TAF Home Page n Previous Newsletters n Email editor   Please take a moment to forward this FREE electronic newsletter to others that might be interested!	UMDNJ Docs Sued for Kickbacks The feds are using the False Claims Act and the federal Stark statute to go after two cardiologists who took  kickbacks and were paid for "no-show" work in exchange for referring cardiac patients to the  University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). According to DoJ, a total of $5.5 million is due back to the federal government.  No word yet if another 14 doctors who also participated in the scheme will be hit with civil fraud charges.  >> To read more
			GSA's Lurita Doan Loses Job The White House finally asked General Services Administration chief Lurita Alexis Doan to resign after she was accused of trying to award work to a friend and misusing her authority for political ends.  Doan's forced resignation comes 10 months after Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch urged President Bush to remove her from office. >> To read more
			Are Fraud Files a Trade Secret? State Farm appears to be asserting that evidence of alleged fraud which two whistleblowers downloaded from State Farm computers should not be admitted in court as it's "stolen data" and a trade secret.  Of course lawyers for the Rigsby sisters disagree, noting legal opinion that holds private agreements that frustrate the public interest under the False Claims Act are unenforceable.  >> To read more
			Savannah Hosp. Pays $5 Million Memorial Health University Medical Center, Georgia Eye Institute and Provident Eye Physicians have agreed to pay $5,080,000.00 to settle a False Claims Act case involving Stark Violations. The relator, Dr. Ryan F. Boland, will receive a 17.5% share of the settlement proceeds. >> To read more
			Cancer Doc Imports for Resale A whistleblower lawsuit has exposed an illegal scheme in which a doctor was purchasing illegally imported cancer drugs for profitable resale.  In doing so, the doctors risked the effectiveness of patient treatment as well as defrauded Medicare.  The doctor will pay $275,000 under the FCA.  >> To read more
			"Undercover" by John Schilling Columbia-HCA whistleblower John Schilling has a new book out recounting his experiences going from company man to FBI spy to help expose the worst healthcare fraud in U.S. history.  Undercover can be ordered from Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or picked up at your local book store.
			New York's Medicaid Work Plan Here's an idea we like:  a formal state work plan to ferret out Medicaid fraud.  New York's new Medicaid Inspector General has put it's work plan on line.  In other news, NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has released the 2007 Annual Report of his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit which notes that in the first 9 months of the newly enacted NY FCA, 51 qui tam cases were filed.