1. Healthcare Executive Sentenced to Prison for $4.6 Million Kickback Scheme - Brenda Montgomery, 71, of Camden, Tennessee, was sentenced to 42 months in prison by U.S. District Judge William Campbell Jr. Judge Campbell also ordered Montgomery to forfeit $595,676.80 after having plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute and seven counts of violating the anti-kickback statute. Montgomery admitted that she agreed to pay John Davis, the former CEO of Comprehensive Pain Specialist, illegal kickbacks in exchange for his arranging for Medicare referrals for durable medical equipment. Read the full press release by the DOJ here.
2. Drug Maker Agrees to Pay Over $15 Million to Resolve False Claims Allegations - Pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt ARD LLC agreed to pay $15.4 million to resolve claims they paid illegal kickbacks to doctors, in the form of lavish dinners and entertainment, to induce prescriptions of the company’s drugs from 2009 to 2013. “The Department of Justice will hold companies accountable for the payment of illegal kickbacks in any form,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Improper inducements have no place in our federal healthcare system, which depends on physicians making decisions based on the healthcare needs of their patients and not on or influenced by personal financial considerations.” You can read the full report here.
3. Deeper Than the Headlines: October 2019 OIG Workplan Updates -The OIG has been busy this October, adding a number of new items to their workplan. In this week’s Deeper Than the Headlines, I dive into the ones I found most interesting, including updates to:
- Compliance with Medicare Requirements for Replacement of Positive Airway Pressure Device Supplies
- Hospice Inpatient and Aggregate Cap Calculations
- Medicare Part B Urine Drug Testing Services
- Medicare Part B Payments for Speech-Language Pathology
Get the full scoop here >>
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