False Claims Act Settlement: We filed a qui tam/False Claims Act case on behalf of two former employees of a medical practice. We alleged in our lawsuit that an orthopedic medical practice was paying kickbacks to another physician in exchange for referrals. We alleged that this conduct violated the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq.; the Illinois False Claims Act, 740 ILCS 175/1 et seq.; the Stark Law, 42 U.S.C. § 1395, et seq. and the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320 a -7(b).
After the United State and the State of Illinois declined to intervene in the case, we prosecuted the case without the assistance of the government. After 3 years of litigation, the case resulted in a settlement valued at over $200,000. The orthopedic practice was forced to pay the United States and the State of Illinois two (2) times its collections for 7 years of its billings from the referring doctor (who we alleged was receiving kickbacks) for payments received for Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare.