Florida Medical Practice Settles Health Care Whistleblower Fraud Claims for $3M
Billing Medicare or other government health care programs in the absence of actual patient treatment or bona fide medical necessity is a common form of health care fraud. It violates the core prohibitions of the False Claims Act and exposes medical providers engaged in such conduct to civil and criminal liability. — Shayne Stevenson
"The United States has settled a lawsuit brought by three whistleblowers that alleges a central Florida based dermatology practice with offices in Clermont and Sumterille knowingly billed the government millions of dollars for procedures that lacked basic indicia of medical necessity and, in some cases, had been performed by unlicensed, uncredentialed, and unsupervised employees. The qui tam complaint, filed by three former employees of the clinic, alleges that the defendants — a dermatology practice and its owner — violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by knowingly submitting false claims to the government for payment, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida."
