Can a whistleblower report Hospital Kickbacks by filing a qui tam case under the False Claims Act?
Yes. On March 13, 2014, the US DOJ announced it settled such a case with Memorial Hospital in Ohio for $8.5 million. There the government alleged the hospital violated the False Claims Act (FCA), Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and Stark Statute by engaging in improper financial relationships with referring physicians.
The settlement involved allegations of an improper “joint venture” among Memorial and a pain management physician and ophthalmologist, who purchased intraocular lenses and then resold them to Memorial at inflated prices.
This is a somewhat unusual FCA case in that Memorial self-disclosed the unlawful transaction to the government. Hats off to Memorial for “doing the right thing.”
Read more http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/March/14-civ-270.html
