The government alleged that Abbott Laboratories, B. Braun Medical and Roxane Laboratories engaged in a scheme to get larger payments for pharmaceutical products from the Medicare and Medicaid programs by reporting false information.
The health care industry now makes up the majority of false claims against the government. For the past two years, the Justice Department has recovered over $5 billion dollars due to fraud and false claims against federal health care programs.
Abbott, Braun, and Roxane are just examples of what type of cases being brought forth in the effort to fight health care fraud. In cases such as this one, the government spends millions of dollars over what they normally would have paid.
Although the government has several programs that are used to combat health care fraud, the False Claims Act has been the most effective. Largely due to the fact that this Act allows any person with insider knowledge to file suit against companies they accuse of committing fraud against the government.
The "whistle blower" or individual filing suit are offered employment protection as well as a reward. The reward typically is a payment of 15% to 25% of the recovery when the government is successful in resolving the case.
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