Pratt & Whitney and PCC Airfoils have consented to pay a hefty amount to resolve False Claims Act allegations concerning the companies’ turbine jet blade replacements. The Justice Department had alleged that for nine years, from 1994 to 2003, the two manufacturers sold defective turbine blade replacements to the military for use in F-15 jets [...]
One hundred and five families have settled with Oncor Electric Delivery Co. (formerly TXU) over damages from a fire on New Years Day three years ago that swept through the town of Ringgold, Texas and northern Montague County. The fire destroyed much of Ringgold and threatened the nearby town of Nocona. Overall, the fire burned [...]
The Masonicare Connecticut Visiting Nurse Association Inc. (VNA) has consented to pay a considerable sum to settle False Claims Act allegations concerning a former VNA physical therapist. VNA is a home health and hospice care provider with over 1,000 employees, serving over 150,000 people nationwide, including Connecticut. From November 2004 through March 2006, Ronald Procko, [...]
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation of drug maker Merck and its partner, Schering-Plough, concerning the companies’ marketing of the cholesterol drug Vytorin. The investigation comes after congressional investigators pressured Merck and Schering into finally releasing results of a study finding that Vytorin was no more effective in treating cholesterol than the [...]
The primary contractor for the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina has agreed to pay the federal government a hefty amount to settle an investigation of the contractor’s alleged violation of the False Claims Act. The Department of Energy had been investigating allegations that Washington Savannah River Company, while in the midst of contract [...]
The District of Columbia has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America seeking substantial compensation arising out of the bank’s alleged activities in a check-depositing scam. A former tax office manager for the city, Harriette Walters, has pleaded guilty to masterminding a scheme to pilfer $48 million over twenty years from the D.C. Office of [...]
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has informed AtriCure, the manufacturer of surgical ablation devices, that the company is under investigation for possible False Claims Act violations. In particular, the DOJ is looking into AtriCure’s marketing practices with regard to its surgical ablation system for treating atrial fibrillation. Use of the system for this purpose [...]
The City of San Francisco has consented to return federal law enforcement grant money in order to escape being named in a False Claims Act suit by the U.S. Department of Justice. The federal government had accused the city of misusing $5.2 million in federal law enforcement grants aimed at securing national borders from illegal [...]
San Diego’s City Attorney, Michael Aguirre, has sued contractors hired by the city to clear homesites destroyed in the 2007 wildfires. The City’s suit, filed under California’s False Claims Act, alleges that two contractors falsified records and intentionally overbilled the city by more than $2 million. The contractors named in the suit are A.J. Diani [...]
The transition to Barack Obama’s new administration will include a new focus on fraud and abuse in health care. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services recently announced a five-part comprehensive strategy to help the government fight fraud, waste and abuse. The five components of the new strategy [...]