The first quarter of 2022 brought news of several noteworthy False Claims Act (FCA) settlements, including several settlements by physicians regarding arrangements deemed to be unlawful kickbacks and the first settlement under the Department of Justice’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative. This
Health Care
Fifth Circuit Affirms Criminal Healthcare Fraud Convictions of Hospice and Home Health Executives
On March 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the criminal healthcare fraud convictions of two individuals who ran a network of home health and hospice centers in Texas. According to the Fifth Circuit, the defendants…
Summary and Considerations on CMS’ RFI on ‘Access to Coverage and Care in Medicaid & CHIP’
Less is More: Brevity is the Soul of Wit
Last month, a three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit reversed the Northern District of California’s ruling in Wit v. United Behavioral Health. In Wit, the district court ruled that United Behavioral Health (“UBH”) breached its fiduciary duties under…
OCR Seeks Comments Related to Recognized Security Practices and Distribution of Civil Monetary Penalties under the HITECH Act
On April 6, 2022, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published a request for information (“RFI”) seeking public comment on implementing certain provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and…
Podcast: Entrepreneurship in Biotech: Growing Your Business – Diagnosing Health Care
In this episode of the Diagnosing Health Care Podcast: What has contributed to the biotechnology industry’s explosive growth over the last several years? In this episode, special guests Don and Lisa Drakeman, two former CEOs of biotech companies,…
WLC Attorney Erica Blachman Hitchings Speaks at Theranos Whistleblower Event
WLC attorney Erica Blachman Hitchings was a panelist at Whistleblower Ethics: Tyler Shultz on Theranos, Integrity, and Resilience in Silicon Valley, an event hosted by the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program at the University of Colorado Law School. …
Conduct: Whether suspension of doctor’s registration was in the public interest when guilt not a foregone conclusion; s. 150 National Law.
Pridgeon v Medical Council of New South Wales [2022] NSWCA 60 (link to Caselaw).
With thanks to Ada Lim for drawing my attention to this appellate decision. The NSW Court of Appeal has helpfully provided a headnote from which…
NDIS: Compensation reduction amount.
Whittaker and National Disability Insurance Agency [2022] AATA 729 (Link to JADE).
Since 2017 the Applicant had been a participant in the NDIS. He sustained a severe traumatic brain injury and a series of serious physical and psychological injuries…