ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was put in place to curb financial fraud.  One of the provisions contained in the Dodd-Frank legislation is designed to reward whistleblowers for coming forward and reporting fraudulent activity against the government.  The Securities and Exchange Commission is […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER There have been three recent cases involving missing dementia patients in California.  Patients with dementia could have memory loss and impaired reasoning.  Assisted living facilities must take care to make sure that patients with dementia do not walk away from the premises.  Caring for a dementia patient at […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Consumers would like to see a class action lawsuit against DirecTV for charging early termination fees/penalties without the consumers consent go to trial.  DirecTV would prefer that a California appeals court send the lawsuit to arbitration and to take away the consumers constitutional right to jury trial.  DirecTV […]

A recent article from the January edition of the New Yorker has highlighted some of the most prevalent scams to be reported so far this year, all of which target older Americans, over the age of 60. These schemes pinpoint weaknesses and vulnerabilities in older people, and prey on unsuspecting […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER A whistleblower who filed suit against JP Morgan will receive $63.9 million in reward money.  JP Morgan agreed to settle the allegations by paying $614 million to the government.  The lawsuit alleged that JP Morgan defrauded the government into insuring ineligible home loans.  The settlement resolves the charges […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration oversees certain whistleblower programs.  There are twenty two whistleblower statutes covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  Whistleblowers are now able to file complaints online.  This provides another way for whistleblowers that have been retaliated against […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER On February 15, 2014 a 74 year-old dementia patient went missing from an assisted living facility in California.  Police asked for the help of the public in locating the man.  Approximately one week later the body of the man was discovered.  Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for patients […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER A major federal contractor has been accused of forcing employees to sign confidentiality statements that violate the False Claims Act.  The whistleblower lawsuit was filed recently against Halliburton and its former subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root.  The complaint was filed with the Justice Department and the Securities and […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Caregivers for the elderly are sometimes abusive.  Doctors who work for Adult Protective Services have seen many cases of abuse and neglect.  According to the 1985 Elder Abuse Prevention, Identification and Treatment Act, abuse is defined as “willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation or cruel punishment with […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER A Pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay the federal government over $171 million to settle a False Claims Act case.  Endo Pharmaceutical is a subsidiary of Endo Health Solutions, Inc.   A whistleblower lawsuit accused Endo Pharmaceuticals of off label marketing of the Lidoderm pain patch.  It was alleged […]