Doctor Gilbert Lederman Will Pay $2.35 Million To The U.S. To Settle Healthcare Fraud Cancer Treatment Lawsuit

NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The notorious Dr. Gilbert Lederman has agreed to pay $2.35 million to the United States to settle claims of Medicare fraud brought in a qui tam (whistleblower) lawsuit concerning radiosurgery cancer treatment.

This Medicare fraud settlement ends the False Claims Act litigation brought by whistleblower Elizabeth M. Ryan, the widow of a cancer patient, against Staten Island University Hospital and its then Chief of Radiation Oncology, Gilbert Lederman, M.D., who advertises radiosurgery cancer treatment extensively on the radio.  Ms. Ryan's attorney, Richard Reich of the New York law firm of Lifflander & Reich LLP, filed the qui tam case in 2004 in federal district court in Brooklyn against the hospital and Lederman, asserting in the complaint that their Stereotactic Body Radiosurgery cancer treatment was not eligible for reimbursement under the federal Medicare program, and that through fraudulent billing practices the hospital and Lederman caused the Medicare program to wrongfully pay them millions of dollars for body radiosurgery cancer treatment of thousands of patients. Subsequently, the United States, following an investigation of the Ryan claims, intervened in the case against SIUH and Lederman. 

In 2008, SIUH settled its portion of the lawsuit by paying more than $25 million to the United States, as part of one of the largest global settlement of health care fraud cases against a single hospital in the United States.  Litigation by the United States and Ms. Ryan against Lederman and his practice continued, and is only now being resolved on the eve of trial.

Prior to Lederman's settlement with the United States and Ms. Ryan, Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, determined that Lederman's claims for reimbursement for body radiosurgery from Medicare were legally and factually false, because 1) the services he billed for were not covered by Medicare, and 2) Lederman misrepresented the nature of the services for which he was billing.

Mr. Reich said, "Dr. Lederman sought to exploit the Medicare program and obtained millions of dollars in payments to which he was not entitled at the expense of vulnerable cancer patients, as well as the public. The example of this case should discourage greedy institutions and health care providers from wrongfully diverting money from the Medicare program, while encouraging whistleblowers to come forward to protect the integrity of government health care programs."

Ms. Ryan will receive 15% of the United States' settlement recovery.  In addition, Lederman will pay $175,000 in legal fees to Lifflander & Reich. Federal and New York State False Claims Acts foster a private-public partnership to fight fraud against the government.  These laws encourage whistleblowers to file lawsuits against companies that are defrauding the government by offering a reward of 15% to 25% of the government's recovery if the government joins or intervenes in the case.

Mr. Reich praised Loretta Lynch, the U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, for her office's zealous advocacy in pursuing this matter, and makes note of the professionalism and effectiveness of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura Mantell and Richard Hayes, and Auditor Emily Rosenthal.

Richard Reich of Lifflander & Reich LLP represents healthcare whistleblowers, as well as plaintiffs in medical malpractice, healthcare billing and catastrophic injury cases.

The case is captioned United States ex rel. Elizabeth M. Ryan v. Gilbert Lederman and Gilbert Lederman M.D., P.C., Case No.: 1:04-cv-02483–JG-CLP (EDNY).

Contact: Richard Reich ([email protected])
Direct dial: 212.332.8830

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SOURCE Lifflander & Reich LLP