Employment Attorney Raymond Nardo files qui tam cases, which are whistleblower cases where an individual sues a company who defrauded the United States government.  The Plaintiff actually sues on behalf of the United States government, and is known as a “relator.”  The information provided by the relator must first be provided to the local United States Attorney’s office and the United States Attorney General in Washington D.C. under seal, and the relator must be the original source of otherwise unknown information. The Plaintiff then files her complaint under seal, and the United States Attorney's Office decides whether or not to intervene. 

Employee Uncovers Medicare Fraud in a Medical Practice

Employment Attorney Raymond Nardo recently represented a young medical assistant who worked at a medical practice on Long Island. She noticed that the medical practice was very secretive about billing a certain asthma medication, which cost $1,000 to $1,500 per vial. She obtained firsthand relevant information about what turned out to be a scheme. As a result, Employment Attorney Raymond Nardo filed a qui tam federal action, under seal, against the medical practice based on Medicare fraud, under the Federal False Claims Act 31 U.S.C. § 3729. 

The employee uncovered the fact that the medical practice ordered extra quantities of an asthma medication, which was initially billed to the government through the Federal Employee Compensation Act because the patient was a 9/11 firefighter.   The practice then administered the extra quantities to other patients and double billed the government through the Medicare “buy and bill” program, falsely claiming that it purchased these medications from a third party.  Thus, the medical practice profited from overbilling the United States government, in violation of the False Claims Act. Apart from the overbilling, each false certification to the United States government constitutes a violation of the False Claims Act. 

The Government Intervenes and the Case Settles

After an extensive period of investigation involving several governmental agencies, the United States Attorney’s office intervened in the action and represented the Plaintiff.  In 2023, the case settled for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you know of a situation where a company has defrauded the United States government, please call Employment Attorney Raymond Nardo, who can evaluate your case.