TAF-UPDATE

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	False Claims Act Update & Alert
Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Washington, D.C. WWW.TAF.ORG November 8, 2007
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			CMS Overpaid $4 Billion HHS OIG says CMS overpaid Medicare Part D pharmacy plans by $4.4 billion or about $15 per beneficiary per month. The money is owed back to Medicare because pharmacy costs are lower than expected, and profits are higher. CMS's says it will do better estimating payments in the future, and that they're asking for Part D sponsors to pay Medicare back. >> Read the report
			Willful Injury from Price Fraud U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris has ordered AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squib to pay a combined $13.6 million to insurers and consumers who were gouged on Medicare co-insurance payments based on hyper-inflated average wholesale prices quoted by the companies to Medicare and Medicaid. Judge Saris ordered the companies to pay double damages because she said the companies willfully caused "real injuries to the insurers and the patients who were paying grossly inflated prices for critically important, often life-sustaining drugs." Still ahead on Judge Saris' docket: Complaints against more than 40 additional companies engaged in Average Wholesale Price violations under Federal and State False Claims Acts. >> To read more
			AZ Hospital Pays $5.8 Million Arizona Heart Hospital, which is owned by MedCath, will pay $5.8 million to settle claims it implanted endoluminal graft devices to treat aneurysms before the devices actuallly received approval from the FDA. >> To read more
			More Inquiries at Omnicare It appears that two new criminal inquiries into Omincare's business practices have been filed. One seems to center on whether Omincare illegally steered nursing home patients to Medicare prescription-drug plans, and another seems to deal with Omnicare's rebate arrangements with prescription drug manufacturers. Omnicare is already operating under two corporate-integrity agreement with HHS, and further violations are likely to result in serious penalties. >> To read more
			A Mother's Vengeance Maryanne Skolek's daughter was killed by prescribed Oxycontin, and she thinks a financial penalty is not enough for executives who lied about the safety of the drug. Mrs. Skolek now wants Purdue Pharma Counsel Howard Udell to lose his license to practice law. She may achieve her mission; 19 disciplinary complaints have already been filed. >> To read more
			A Thieving Fraud Inspector Former HHS fraud investigator Scott Allen Gompert faces 35 years in jail and a $1.25 million fine for trying to steal $1 million of seized assets from a Medicare fraud mill and divert the money into his own bank accounts. >> To read more
			Adolescent Health Fraud Stars Behavioral Health Group, a chain of mental health centers for adolescents, has agreed to pay $1 million to settle charges it billed MediCal for treatment at a San Leandro clinic on days when the youths were actually at home with their families. >> To read more