Summary of Cases
Robert Vogel, Shelley Slade and Janet Goldstein, while in private practice and previously with the Department of Justice, have represented plaintiffs in a broad array of False Claims Act cases throughout the nation. Their cases have received national coverage in the media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and 60 Minutes. Here are the outcomes of some of their cases:
Defense Procurement Fraud
* Teledyne Inc. paid more than $115 million to settle claims in two qui tam whistle blower lawsuits that the company falsely certified testing of electromagnetic parts used in weapons systems and padded estimates on sole source contracts. Teledyne also pled guilty to 35 criminal counts of making false statements and paid a $17.5 million fine.
* A major defense contractor paid $82 million to settle a qui tam lawsuit alleging that the contractor had falsely allocated commercial costs to government contracts. This settlement was achieved as a result of five years of litigation conducted by Ms. Goldstein, lead counsel for the qui tam plaintiff, and government counsel.
* General Electric Company, in what was at the time the largest recovery for the government ever in a False Claims Act case, paid $59 million to settle a qui tam lawsuit alleging that it had defrauded the Foreign Military Sales Program of the U.S. Department of Defense by diverting taxpayer funds to unapproved purposes, including payments to an Israeli Brigadier General.
* Pratt & Whitney, following several years of litigation handled by Ms. Slade on behalf of the United States, paid $9.8 million to settle the government’s allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by diverting Foreign Military Sales Program funds to unauthorized purposes, including payments to an Israeli Brigadier General.
* Hughes Aircraft Company paid $10 million to settle claims in a qui tam lawsuit alleging that it submitted defective cost and pricing data under the Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA) in connection with a U.S. Air Force procurement.
* Martin Marietta Corporation, a defense contractor, paid $5.3 million to settle a qui tam lawsuit alleging that it double-billed the Government for engineering costs.
* M/A Com, Inc., a defense manufacturer, paid $3 million, to resolve a qui tam lawsuit alleging that it falsified testing documents for a product used on military aircraft.
General Services Administration & Department of Veteran Affairs - Multiple Award Schedule Fraud
* Motorola, Inc., in what was at the time the largest civil recovery ever by the General Services Administration (GSA), paid $15 million to settle GSA’s claims that the company had submitted false claims for goods sold pursuant to the Multiple Award Schedule.
* Beckton Dickinson &Co., a medical device manufacturer, paid $3.3 million to settle a qui tam case alleging that the contractor overcharged the Department of Veteran Affairs for devices after failing to disclose more favorable prices provided to commercial customers.
Procurement Fraud - Buy American Act and Small Business Act
* A government contractor paid over $5 million to settle allegations in a qui tam lawsuit that it sold supplies to the United States in violation of its contractual obligations to adhere to the Buy American Act and the Small Business Act.
Health Care Fraud - Medical Devices
* LifeScan, Inc., a medical device manufacturer, paid $30.6 million to settle allegations in a qui tam action that it sold defective blood glucose monitors to Medicare patients and failed to report adverse events to the FDA.
* Home Americair of California, Inc., a durable medical equipment company that supplied home oxygen, paid $5 million to the Government to settle claims in a qui tam case that it used false records to support claims to Medicare.
Health Care Fraud - Clinical Laboratory Services
*UroCor, Inc., and Dianon Systems, Inc. medical laboratories, paid $9 million and $4.8 million, respectively, to resolve claims in qui tam lawsuits alleging that they billed Medicare for medically unnecessary lab tests that physicians did not know they were ordering.
Health Care Fraud - Pharmaceuticals
* Fresenius Medical Care North America, a pharmaceutical company, paid $486 million to settle claims in multiple qui tam lawsuits that a predecessor company, National Medical Care, Inc., paid unlawful kickbacks to induce physicians and nurses to provide unnecessary intravenous nutrition to dialysis patients covered by Medicare.
* Omnicare, Inc. the nation’s largest long term care pharmacy chain, paid $49.5 million to settle allegations in two qui tam whistle blower actions that it switched patients’ medications without physician approval in order to maximize Medicaid reimbursement.
* NIPSI, a pharmacy company, paid over $7 million to resolve allegations in a qui tam case alleging that it overstated the cost of intravenous drugs.
Health Care Fraud - Carrier and Fiscal Intermediary Services
* BlueCross/Blue Shield of Michigan, the fiscal intermediary for Medicare in Michigan, paid more than $27.6 million to settle qui tam claims alleging that it cheated on quality control tests in order to misrepresent the quality of the auditing services it was providing for the Medicare program.
* Blue Shield of California, a Medicare carrier, paid $12 million to settle allegations in a qui tam action that it misrepresented the quality of claims processing services it was providing for the Medicare program.
Health Care Fraud - Hospital Services
* Tenet Healthcare, Inc., operator of the nation’s second largest health care chain at the time, paid more than $900 million to settle claims in multiple qui tam lawsuits that it had over-billed Medicare through use of an overstated “cost-to-charge” ratio that inflated “outlier” and other cost-based payments sought by this hospital chain.
* HCA, Inc., the nation’s largest hospital chain at the time, paid $225.5 million to resolve claims by multiple qui tam plaintiffs that HCA unlawfully paid kickbacks to physicians, and violated the federal “Stark” law, to induce physicians to refer patients whose care would be billed to federal health programs.
* Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation, a hospital system, paid $8.7 million to resolve claims in a qui tam case that it overcharged Medicare for costs of ambulance services.
Health Care Fraud - Physician Services
* Emergency Physicians Billing Service paid over $28.8 million to resolve claims in a qui tam lawsuit that it systematically overcharged Medicare for emergency physician services. The settlement followed a trial conducted by Mr. Vogel and others that established the defendant’s liability under the False Claims Act.
Social Security Act Training Funds Fraud
* New York State paid $27 million to resolve allegations in a whistle blower lawsuit that it submitted false claims for federal funds meant for the training of social service workers.
The attorneys at Vogel, Slade & Goldstein have also brought several successful wrongful termination cases on behalf of whistle blowers, resulting in settlements in excess of $4 million.