The growing issue of the number and vagueness of federal criminal statutes has led to a push back from even conservative groups, disdaining the over criminalization of federal law, leading one author to write a book arguing that each person

The federal agents arrested 20 people for a Palm Beach operation that engaged in buying up oxycontin from Broward County pain clinics and pharmacies and shipping those drugs to Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina . The operation

The FDA recently moved to shut down internet pharmacy "affiliate" websites in the United States . The Ryan Haight Act, passed in 2008 was the first effort to define the lawful and unlawful practice of telemedicine with respect to controlled

WASHINGTON (November 17, 2009) — Today President Barack Obama established by Executive Order an interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) to strengthen efforts to combat financial crime. According to a press release, the Department of Justice will lead the

Federal officials in charge of preventing fraud in the billion-dollar Medicare program ignored dozens of warnings of criminal activity during the Bush administration, according to by the Associated Press and U.S. Senator Charles Grassley's (R-IA) office.CMS received about 30 tips

CMS uses contractors to process claims, but also to use sophisticated software to detect fraud patterns and make referrals for claims denials, audits and criminal investigations. At one time the system was somewhat fragmented, given that there are different contractors

We have done posts on the various monikers given to task forces, including the most recent in healthcare fraud, HEAT (Healthcare Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team) and the agencies in involved in those investigations; the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation),

Often, we hear that white collar crime is treated differently than other types of crime. However, it is often who commits white collar crime that brings about different treatment. I had a client indicted for fraud related to a DME.

Proposals to increase the criminal penalties for health care fraud are making their way into the Senate's health care reform bill. The proposal, The Health Care Fraud Enforcement Act, involves significant increases in potential jail time through modifications of the

Budget priorities and redirection of investigations at the state level, has led to a drop off in investigations of workers compensation fraud at a time when such fraud is increasing, according to investigators. The focus on Medicare and Medicaid fraud

A Federal False Claims Act Case filed by an employee of a dialysis center owned by Fresenius North America, which has over 1500 clinics serving dialysis patients, alleges that a clinics in El Paso and elsewhere used unlicensed employees to

In a Sixty Miutes piece on Medicare Fraud, reviewed by the HCFBlog , Steve Kroft claimed the government loses $60 Billion to health care fraud. The piece, otherwise quite good, then goes on to describe some of what we have

After 15 long months of hard word work, West Publishing is almost ready to release my book. The book is expected to be released before the end of the month. In the mean while, the publisher just sent me a

Part of the Health Care Fraud Task Force initiative in Miami, Houston, Detroit and Los Angeles has met with some success, and not so coincidently some of the cases have Miami roots. The related to a plea in a in

The AP does an interesting story on the influence of organized crime on Medicare Fraud, including some violence associated with the schemes. Former drug dealers and mobsters are getting more involved in the fraud due to the lower criminal penalties

This past Sunday night, 60 Minutes ran an excellent exposé on the $60 billion Medicare Fraud crime wave sweeping the country. 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft spent some time in Miami this past August with FBI Special Agent Brian Waterman

The health care fraud bill past last year by the Florida Legislature had a number of "get tough" provisions; including an extended list of disqualifying offenses for licensure, including some misdemeanors or other minor offenses. The law includes that a

Dr. Jeffrey Freidlander of Lakeland , Florida was charged in the Middle District of Florida with trafficking in controlled substances including oxycontin, morphine and hydrocodone. The indictment alleges that the physician pre-signed prescriptions and allowed his staff of non-physicians to

As a follow up to last week's posting on pain management enforcement, we indicated that investigations concerning abuse in pain management focus on the treatment as opposed to a fraudulent claim. There is no crime of practicing bad medicine; physicians

Pain Management, among other forms of drug related treatment, has been receiving substantial scrutiny lately. Unlike some other fraud or abuse investigations predicated upon whether services were provided or claims were fraudulent, the primary focus is the treatment, why the