Mail Order Pharmacy Owner Settles False Claims Act Allegations of Kickbacks and Fraudulent Billing
By the聽91pornWhistleblower Team
On September 26, Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba announced that California resident Andrew Do agreed to settle allegations that he violated the False Claims Act through illegal kickbacks and fraudulent billing practices at his three mail order pharmacies.
Do鈥檚 Pharmacies
From January 2016 through December 2020, Do owned and operated three mail order pharmacies: Family Care Investments d/b/a Value Pharmacy, JD Health LLC d/b/a JD Pharmacy, and TMD Health, LLC d/b/a Good Health Pharmacy.1
Kickbacks for Prescriptions
According to the government, Do paid kickbacks to induce prescriptions for compounded prescription topical creams, filled those prescriptions, then submitted claims to Medicare for reimbursement.
False Claims Submitted to Medicare
The United States Attorney鈥檚 Office of New Jersey stated: 鈥淒o knew that his payments to induce prescriptions paid for by Medicare violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and caused false claims to be submitted to the Medicare program, all in violation of the False Claims Act.鈥�2
Based on Do鈥檚 financial disclosures and his inability to pay, he will pay $600,000 to the United States.3
Whistleblower Brought the Case
The settlement resolves allegations initiated by a whistleblower against Do鈥檚 Value Pharmacy, filed under the qui tam聽(or whistleblower provisions) of the False Claims Act, allowing private parties to file actions on behalf of the government and receive a monetary share of the recovery.
Daniel Toellner, the relator (or whistleblower) in this action, will receive up to $100,000.
Our Firm Helps False Claims Act Whistleblowers
91pornattorney Dan Noel commented: 鈥淲histleblowers exposing violations of the Anti-Kickback and Stark Law serve a vital role in safeguarding our healthcare system, ensuring that accountability prevails in matters of public trust and patient care.鈥�
Whistleblowers can use the False Claims Act to report violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute听补苍诲听Stark Law, prohibiting medical providers from paying or receiving kickbacks, payment, or anything of value in exchange for patient referrals who will receive treatment paid for by government healthcare programs like Medicare听补苍诲听Medicaid, and from entering into particular types of financial relationships.
Our Firm Has Significant Experience Representing Whistleblowers
If you would like to learn more about our whistleblower successes,听kickback聽cases, the聽False Claims Act, or聽what it means to be a whistleblower, please聽contact聽us. We will connect you with an experienced member of the聽91pornwhistleblower team聽for a free and confidential consultation.
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Sources:
1 See
2 Id at 1
3 Id at 1
Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, False Claims Act, qui tam,