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

MIAMI, FL (October 12, 2009) Today the editorial board of the Miami Herald weighed in on the national health care reform debate by pointing out that the current health care system - Medicaid and Medicare - has insufficient front-end mechanisms

MIAMI, FL (September 29, 2009) Defendant Daniel Martinez, of Davie, Florida, was sentenced for his participation in a $20 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme. U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck sentenced Martinez to a total of a

MIAMI, FL (September 22, 2009) Today the Miami Herald reported that "A fugitive who claimed to be Mexican but was betrayed by his Cuban accent -- which led to his arrest in Spain -- was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment

TALLAHASSEE, FL (September 16, 2009) Attorney General Bill McCollum announced that three people have been arrested and accused of conspiring to defraud the Florida Medicaid program out of at least $112,000. Larry Hill is charged with Medicaid provider fraud and

WASHINGTON, D.C.(September 2, 2009) The U.S. Department of Justice announced the largest health care fraud settlement in history. A landmark $2.3 billion health-care fraud settlement involving Pfizer Inc., has put the pharmaceutical industry on notice that promoting drugs for unauthorized

From experience as criminal defense attorneys, nothing enrages agents and prosecutors more than extravagances by those accused. That is why good defense attorneys will make sure a client being accused of stealing vast or even minor sums of money go

In a case originating in the 1990's, former pharmaceutical sales representatives for Johnson and Johnson (J&J) alleged 80% of a medication they marketed, Procrit, was used to commit Medicare Fraud; an amount equal to $3 billion for the company as

Of general interest and with particular application in health care, the federal government has, over the course of several decades, criminalized an entire range of behavior that most people did not know or perceive to be criminal. This is not

We have previously written about the federal government's , a task force dedicated to rooting out health care fraud in several cities very prominently including Miami. In the last legislative session, the Sate of Florida also got into the Act.

Florida is among the few states that permit what is referred to as the "corporate practice of medicine." In many other states, medical and other health care entities are required to be owned by medical professionals individually or through professional

By Robert David Malove, EsquireExclusive to the Health Care Fraud BlogSAN DIEGO (July 15) In San Diego, on the 44th day of a trial highly touted "" internet pharmacy prosecution by the Justice Department, seven defendants learned they were convicted

A new moniker in the long list of federal task forces. Federal Agencies generally get the three letter moinker; FBI, IRS, CIA, OIG, DOD, etc. Task forces get more letters and try to do acronyms; HIDTA (DEA), FinCEN, OFAC (Treasury),

The recent arrests of by the DOJ-HHS health care fraud task force, , of 52 individuals related to Medicare Fraud in Detroit, and the allegation that the crimes were somewhat commuter crimes, brought to Detroit from Miami has also raised