The Justice Department announced today that MorseLife Health System Inc. (MorseLife) has agreed to pay the United States $1.75 million to resolve its potential liability under the False Claims Act for facilitating COVID-19 vaccinations for hundreds of individuals ineligible to participate in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program (LTC PPP), a program specifically designed to vaccinate long-term care facility (LTCF) residents and staff when doses of COVID-19 vaccine were in limited supply at the beginning of the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program. MorseLife is a not-for-profit corporation located in West Palm Beach, Florida, that oversees health care facilities on its campus, including a nursing home and an assisted living facility.
“This specific vaccination program was designed to protect some of the nation’s most vulnerable individuals at a critical time when the COVID-19 pandemic was devastating that population,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will hold accountable those who misused vital pandemic relief programs for their own financial gain.”
“The settlement today exemplifies my office and its law enforcement partners’ strong commitment to combatting all forms of health care fraud-related schemes, especially those that exploit government resources designed to assist individuals who were acutely affected by...
Misinformation about hantavirus has run rampant on social media, with online users reviving viral COVID-19 theories to spread fake news about the outbreak. From conspiracy theories claiming that...