Compliance News Roundup: Individual Accountability Is Not Just a Soundbite

1. Norwich Podiatrist Pays $35,000 to Settle Allegations under the False Claims Act - “Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that EDWARD TARKA, a podiatrist with a practice in Norwich, has entered into a civil settlement with the government in which he will pay $35,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the False Claims Act.” Get the full scoop >>

2. Physician and Wife Could Be Heading to Prison - “A Perry County physician convicted of defrauding taxpayer-funded health programs and of improperly prescribing pain pills in an area awash in drug problems should serve 15 years in prison, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

James Alvin “Ace” Chaney, 52, was convicted on more than 150 charges that included improper prescribing and billing Medicare and Medicaid for unnecessary tests between March 2006 and October 2014.

Chaney’s actions “perpetuated so many addictions and so much damage to our community,” U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove said in sentencing Chaney. Get the full scoop >>

3. Deeper Than The Headines: Individual Accountability Is Not Just a Soundbite - “For those of you who have been following my work on the Healthicity blog, my webinars and/or speaking engagements, know that one of my topics of choice is the government's increased efforts to hold individuals, not just organizations, accountable for suspected non-compliance. Generally speaking, financial settlements with organizations tend to be announced first and announcements against individuals announced later.

This same pattern seems to hold true in the Tenet/Clinica de la Mama settlement. In that settlement, the dollar amount agreed upon exceeded $510 million and was the result of a whistleblower lawsuit.

A year later, in addition to previous actions taken against some of the individuals allegedly involved, it was just announced that more indictments were returned on Sept. 26, 2017 against a former executive of a Tenet hospital along with a clinic owner and operator. They are being charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care bribes, falsifying corporate books and records, and receiving health care bribes among others.” Get the full scoop >>