October 5, 2018 - Posts

Whistleblower Roundup – October 5, 2018

A look back at the week’s news and developments affecting whistleblowers.

AmerisourceBergen to Pay $625 Million in Cancer Drug Repackaging Scheme

In a blockbuster settlement, the Department of Justice announced that AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC) and its subsidiaries have agreed to pay $625 million to resolve allegations that its facility improperly repackaged oncology-supportive injectable drugs into pre-filled syringes and distributed those syringes to physicians treating vulnerable cancer patients. The settlement resolves these violations of the False Claims Act. A former chief operating officer at ABC blew the whistle to federal and state authorities for the company distributing misbranded cancer drugs. ABC is one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug companies and is ranked number 11 on the Fortune 500 list.

DaVita, Inc. Pays $270 Million to Resolve Medicare Advantage Fraud

One of the nation’s largest dialysis providers will pay $270 million to settle a whistleblower’s allegation that it helped Medicare Advantage insurance plans cheat the government for several years, the Department of Justice announced this week. The settlement by HealthCare Partners Holdings LLC, part of giant dialysis company DaVita Inc., is believed to be the largest to date involving allegations that some Medicare Advantage plans exaggerate how sick their patients are in order to inflate government payments.

Kalispell Regional Healthcare System to Pay $24 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

The Department of Justice announced that Montana-based Kalispell Regional Healthcare System (KRH) along with six subsidiaries and related entities have agreed to pay $24 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by paying physicians more than fair market value, and by conspiring to compensate doctors who make referrals. The government alleged that the KRH entities had arrangements with referring physicians that violated the Medicare physician self-referral prohibition, known as the Stark Law and other arrangements that also violated the Anti-Kickback Statute.

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