by Tim McInnis, Esq | Jan 16, 2011 | Our Cases
Additional Qui Tam Whistleblowers’ Allegations Still Pending Resolution, According to Manhattan-Based Qui TamWhistleblower Attorney Timothy J. McInnis, Esq.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex reI. JOHN DOE AND JANE DOE Plaintiffs, v. AHS HOSPITAL CORP., ATLANTIC HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC., OVERLOOK HOSPITAL, et al. U.S. District Court, Newark, NJ: Civil Action No. 08-2042 (WJM)
(SUMMIT, NJ) – Overlook Hospital and parent AHS Hospital Corporation which operates three north Jersey hospitals, have agreed to pay more than $9 million to the U.S. Government to partially settle Qui Tam Whistleblower allegations of Medicare fraud and false billing over a seven-year-period, according to attorney Timothy J. McInnis, of McInnis Law in New York City, (WhistleblowerLegal.com) who represents the two whistleblowers who brought the case on behalf of the United States in 2008.
As alleged in the Complaint which is being partially settled, AHS Hospital Corporation, Atlantic Health Systems, Inc., and Overlook Hospital (“AHS”) frequently billed Medicare Part A for services provided to elderly persons under more expensive in-patient billing codes. Instead, the care provided to these elderly patients should have been billed under less expensive “observation” or “out-patient” procedure codes, the Complaint states.
Read the Complete AHS $9 Million Qui Tam Whistleblower News Release from McInnis Law
Read The AHS Whistleblower Complaint
Read The AHS Whistleblower Settlement Agreement
by Tim McInnis, Esq | Jan 15, 2011 | Our Cases
In June 2011 a final settlement was reached among the relator, the Government, and the defendant in the False Claims Act matter, US ex rel. [Relator] v. Institute of International Education (index number 07 CV 8294 (Castel, J.)), filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, involving allegations of defrauding the State Department’s Fulbright Scholarship Program for foreign graduate students studying in the US. The whistleblower received a $170,000 reward from the Government.
Related filed court documents:
Government Press Release (PDF)
Complaint (PDF)
Amended Complaint (PDF)
Complaint in Intervention (PDF)
Qui Tam Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Relator Share Agreement (PDF)
by Tim McInnis, Esq | Jan 14, 2011 | Our Cases
In October 2009, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed notices in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, located in Manhattan, to partially join two False Claims Act cases brought by tenant Edmund Rosner against two large NYC residential landlords, accusing them with defrauding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Section 8 Voucher Program.
by Tim McInnis, Esq | Jan 13, 2011 | Our Cases
On April 21, 2010, following a settlement between the parties, United States District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein dismissed Joseph Kim’s whistleblower retaliation case against his former employer, Medco Enterprises, Inc. The Complaint, filed by qui tam whistleblower attorney Timothy J. McInnis, has been pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Docket No. 07-CV-1305 (AKH).
Kim, a respiratory therapist, alleged that he was fired by Medco because he had investigated and complained of Medicare fraud committed by his former employer in connection with services for respiratory patients at Medco’s Wayne Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Bronx, New York. Kim’s allegations were set forth in a First Amended Complaint against Medco that was filed in August 2008. The terms of the settlement between Kim and Medco were not publicly disclosed in the action at the time of its dismissal.
Related filed court documents:
Amended Complaint (PDF)
Order Dismissal (PDF)
by Tim McInnis, Esq | Jan 12, 2011 | Our Cases
In April 2009, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York filed a notice of partial intervention in a civil Medicare fraud case against Staten Island Ophthalmologist Joseph R. Mermelstein, M.D. (United States ex rel Gerald P. Astorino v. Joseph R. Mermelstein, Index number 04 cv 1692 (Johnson, J.)). The case was originally brought under the False Claims Act qui tam provisions by Gerald Astorino, an optician formerly employed by Mermelstein.
Astorino’s complaint, which was filed under seal in April 2004, but has since been made public, alleges various schemes to defraud the Medicare Program, primarily billing for ophthalmology services that were not rendered or that were unnecessary. Mermelstein is currently serving a five-year prison term as a result of his guilty plea to related criminal charges also filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
This qui tam case was settled in January 2011 for $700,000.
Related filed court documents:
Astorino Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Astorino Complaint (PDF)
by Tim McInnis, Esq | Jan 11, 2011 | Our Cases
In March 2009, a final settlement was reached among the relator, Government and defendant in the False Claims Act matter, US ex rel Joseph B. Lee v. Victory Memorial Hospital, (index number 04 cv 3234 (Ross, J.)), filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
