Healthcare Marketer to pay seven-figure settlement for FCA and AKS violations
Chris Gaines, a healthcare marketer in Tennessee, has agreed to pay $7.05 million to resolve a lawsuit asserting violations of the Federal False Claims Act (FCA) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).
The whistleblowers’ lawsuit alleges that Medworx Compounding LLC, a compounding pharmacy, systematically paid independent contractor marketers to induce them to solicit physicians to write Medworx prescriptions and to arrange for soldiers to receive Medworx products that were billed to Medicare and TRICARE, the Department of Defense health insurance program for active-duty service members.
Patients often received prescriptions for Medworx products without seeing a doctor to determine if the prescriptions were medically necessary.
United States District Judge Carlton W. Reeves of the Southern District of Mississippi entered the order on Friday, October 14th.
“I applaud the courage of our clients,” says Patrick Barrett, Provost Umphrey attorney representing the whistleblowers. “We are very proud to help them obtain this substantial recovery of taxpayer dollars.”
Barrett is the newest addition to the Provost Umphrey team and is practicing out of the firm Nashville’s office.
“It takes bravery to expose a fraudulent scheme perpetrated by powerful corporate interests, but we are glad that there are those that will step forward and speak up against corruption,” says Barrett.
Jonathan Barrett of Barrett Law, PLLC and Rick Davis and David Shelton of Shelton Davis, PLLC in Mississippi also represented the whistleblowers in this case.
The case is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Ex rel. Jeremy Westfall, Russell Bourland, and Richi Lesley v. MEDWORX COMPOUNDING, LLC CHRIS GAINES & JOHN DOES 1-10, Cause No. 3:15 cv 376 CWR/FKB in the Southern District of Mississippi.
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