Page 1
Opinion Says Allegations in Whistleblower Complaint That Manufacturer Paid Agent $1 Million in Commissions for Heart Devices Implanted by His Brother-Physician Were Not Barred as Duplicative of Public Data
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday resurrected a lawsuit asserting violations of the False Claims Act by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of the hospital’s cardiologists, and a medical device company over an alleged kickback scheme under which the manufacturer purportedly paid the treating doctor’s brother more than $1 million in commissions on heart devices that the physician selected for surgical implantation.
Saying that the trial judge erred in finding that the action is barred by a so-called “public disclosure” rule, the court found that the whistleblower complaint raises genuinely new allegations of fraud against Biotronik Inc. and are not duplicative of information found in a 2011 New York Times story raising concerns over the company’s sales tactics or to earlier litigation challenging a purported practice of rewarding doctors with lavish gifts and parties.
At issue is a provision of the False Claims Act (“FCA”), codified at 31 U.S.C. §3729 et seq., which allows private citizens, as “relators,” to bring qui tam actions on behalf of the government for “knowingly present[ing]…a false of fraudulent claim for payment or approval” to the U.S. government, such as by submitting a request for reimbursement to Medicare or other federal...
Noida: District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) in Ghaziabad has directed a Noida-based company to pay a fine of Rs 10,000, in addition to refunding Rs 2,400 taken from a customer f...