On December 23, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia announced that an Arkansas-based drug wholesaler, BTW Solutions, LLC, agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve allegations of violating federal laws in a case brought to light by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions. The case, U.S. ex rel. Young v. BTW Solutions, LLC, et al., alleged that BTW Solutions improperly billed the government for pain creams sold to physicians treating workers’ compensation patients.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), BTW Solutions violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act between 2013 and 2018 by engaging in a profit-sharing scheme with physicians. The company reportedly offered pain creams to physicians at or near cost, billed the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) at marked-up prices, and shared the reimbursement profits with the physicians. The OWCP handles medical bill payments under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), which provides healthcare to injured federal workers.
The case began in June 2017, when a whistleblower filed a lawsuit under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions. These provisions allow private individuals to file lawsuits on behalf of the government when they encounter fraud against federal programs. If the government recovers funds through a settlement or judgment, the whistleblower is eligible to receive between 15 and 30% of the recovered funds.
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