Mid-Atlantic Health Law TOPICS
$1.12 Billion in Fraud Recoveries
The Department of Justice (DOJ) reported $1.12 billion in fraud and false claims recoveries during the last fiscal year, which ended September 30, 2008. Although Medicare and Medicaid received the largest recoveries among the federal health care programs, the DOJ reported that Tricare, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program also received awards.
More than three-fourths of the recovered amounts were the result of qui tam lawsuits initiated by private citizens pursuant to the Federal False Claims Act. These private
citizens were awarded $198 million from these lawsuits in fiscal year 2008.
In its press release, DOJ announced that more than half of the recoveries ($640 million) involved pharmaceutical companies. However, DOJ also identified $160 million in recoveries against hospitals and medical centers for a variety of alleged violations of the Federal False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and the Stark law.