Types of Pharmaceutical Fraud
If you report a kickback or Stark fraudulent scheme affecting Medicare, you may be entitled to a whistleblower reward, as outlined in this website. (Click here if you want Attorney Joel Hesch to review your claim in confidence.)
Kickbacks
Kickbacks are more common than you might think. In fact, there have been many mega cases against pharmaceutical drug companies paying hospitals or doctors kickbacks for prescribing their drugs. Drug companies know that paying kickbacks is illegal, and therefore they often try to disguise the kickbacks by referring to them as consulting fees or training programs. If you can help the government prove that the payments were really based upon the amount of prescriptions, you might be eligible for a very large reward for reporting Medicare kickback fraud.
The Stark Statute
Another federal law, called the Stark Statute, addresses the propriety of any financial relationship that a physician or other healthcare provider can have with companies that provide healthcare items or services. It makes it illegal for doctors to self-refer their patients to companies they have an ownership interest. For instance, a doctor cannot refer a patient to a hospital, testing center, lab company, or physical therapy entity in which the doctor co-owns or has a financial interest. This is because when a doctor partly owns the company it is referring patients to, there is an incentive for the doctor to order tests that aren’t really medically needed.
The Stark Statute makes it illegal for doctors/physicians to refer Medicare or Medicaid patients to any company that it has a financial relationship, including part ownership, an investment interest or any other type of compensation arrangement.
If you know of a pharmaceutical drug company or other healthcare provide cheating through kickback fraud or a physician committing Stark fraud and are interested in a reward, fill out our fraud questionnaire.