Health Law Attorney BlogOIG Cracks Down First Months of 2010
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has continued to indict, prosecute, and convict members of the healthcare community for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) statue and the False Claims statute. Some notable prosecutions are below:
– On February 2, 2010, Maria Aloise, the president and owner of Atenas Medical Equipment, Inc. (Atenas), was convicted on ten counts of healthcare fraud. Between the summer of 2006 and spring of 2007, Aloise submitted nearly $1.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare seeking reimbursement for DMEs by using forged prescriptions, certificates of medical necessity, and delivery receipts.
– On February 4, 2010, Yasmanny Benavides of Lacary Medical Services Equipment, Inc. (Lacary Medical) of Miami, Florida was found guilty by a federal jury for committing healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Lacary Medical provides durable medical equipment (DME) to Medicare beneficiaries. Between July and December of 2003, Lacary Medical submitted almost $5 million worth of false and fraudulent claims seeking reimbursement for DME items and services not prescribed by physicians. Further, Benavides controlled and operated Lily Orthopedic, Inc. (Lily Orthopedic), which also provided DMEs to Medicare beneficiaries in Miami. Between December 2003 and August 2004, Benavides and her co-conspirator Reinaldo Guerro, on behalf of Lily Orthopedic, caused for almost $15 million in false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare seeking reimbursement for DME items and services not prescribed by physicians.
– On February 8, 2010, Garden State Imaging (GSI) of New Jersey paid over $80,000 for allegedly violating the CMP statute for verbally agreeing to split the proceeds of mobile diagnostic imaging services provided to patients at a medical center between GSI and the owners of the medical center.
– On February 16, 2010, Dr. Harvey Montijo of Florida paid $650,000 for allegedly violating the CMP statute for soliciting and receiving remunerations “in the form of consulting payments from two medical device manufacturers in exchange for using their orthopedic hip and knee products.
This should be a reminder to everyone that the OIG continues to highly enforce and scrutinize healthcare professionals for violations of federal statutes. Please be sure to revisit your compliance programs and polices to ensure that they align with the most recent laws.
For assistance with your compliance plan or more information, please contact Adrienne Dresevic, Esq. at (248) 996-8510, visit our Stark and Anti-Kickback Specialty Page, or the HLP website.