ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Allegedly Violated Regulations Regarding Heart Operations
Improper Delegation Of Duties Alleged
Whistleblowers To Receive $3,075,000 As Reward
Private citizens and businesses help the government recover billions every year in cases of fraud against the government. The private citizens and businesses assisted the government in recovering these funds by bringing civil lawsuits on behalf of the government under the False Claims Act, (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq. The private individuals or businesses bringing the actions are known as “relators,” and the cases themselves referred to as “qui tam” cases. If the government recovers, the relators are eligible for rewards. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d). Relators of fraudulent conduct are often employees, accountants, controllers or managers, or former employees or managers, or competitors of the business engaging in the fraud. If you have credible information of fraud against the government in violation of the FCA in San Francisco or elsewhere in California, call us today at (415)441-8669 and we can help. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Recent Settlement[1]
According to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) a hospital and three heart surgeons have jointly agreed to pay $15 million to resolve claims that the defendants violated Medicare teaching physician and informed consent regulations. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the whistleblower in the case alleged that three heart surgeons regularly ran two operating rooms at once and delegated key aspects of extremely complicated heart surgeries to unqualified medical residents at the hospital where the surgeries were being performed. The sealed qui tam lawsuit alleges that the heart surgeries at hand are some of the most complicated operations performed at any hospital, including coronary artery bypass grafts, valve repairs, and aortic repair procedures. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said these surgeries typically involve opening a patients’ chest and placing the patient on the bypass machine for some portion of time.
The lawsuit alleges that the surgeons ran two operating rooms at once and failed to attend the surgical timeout, which is a critical moment when the entire team would pause and identify key risks to prevent surgical errors.
“Patients entrusted these surgeons with their lives – submitting to operations where one missed cut is the difference between life and death,” said the U.S. Attorney representing the government in the case. “Allegedly, the patients were unaware their doctor was leaving for another operating room. This settlement reaffirms the importance of Medicare requirements governing surgeon presence and ensuring that no physician – no matter how prominent or successful – can skirt around the rules.” The doctors are accused of hiding this information by falsely attesting on medical records they were physically present for the “entire” operation.
Starting A Qui Tam Action
Any False Claims Act whistleblower case begins by a relator filing a complaint under seal in the federal court usually for the United States District Court for the district where defendant is located or does business. At the same time, the relator submits a disclosure to the DOJ outlining the material evidence the relator has of the alleged false claims. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b). The seal period of the complaint lasts 60 days during which the DOJ investigates the claims. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(2). (If necessary, the government can, and often does, extend the 60-day period during which the allegations are kept under seal.) If the government decides to intervene in the case, the government essentially takes over the litigation. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(1). If the government declines to intervene, the relator may proceed with the litigation on his or her own. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(3).
Contact Us
If you have credible information of government fraud in San Francisco or elsewhere in California, call Ingrid M. Evans at (415) 441-8669, or toll-free at 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267) or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. In addition to FCA and CFCA whistleblower cases, Ingrid and Evans Law Firm, Inc. also handle bank fraud whistleblower cases under FIRREA/FIAFEA, commodity trading and securities fraud under the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program and the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, and tax fraud under the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Program.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
