Stone & Magnanini LLP Announces Vanderbilt University Medical Center Has Agreed to Pay $6,525,000 and Conduct a Third Party Audit of its Compliance Program to Settle Whistleblower Case

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., July 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has agreed to pay $6,525,000 and to retain a third party compliance expert to perform an audit of the effectiveness of VUMC's Medicare and Medicaid billing practices, policies, and procedures to resolve allegations that it violated the FCA by knowingly overbilling the U.S. and Tennessee State Governments for medical services.  The whistleblower plaintiffs, former practicing physicians claimed that VUMC submitted fraudulent claims to the U.S. Government for health care services provided to beneficiaries of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs for: 1) operating room services and ICU services performed by attending physicians when in fact such services were performed by unsupervised medical residents; 2) medically directed anesthesia services performed in operating rooms and other medical facilities when in fact such services did not meet the criteria for medical direction; and 3) overlapping surgeries where surgeons were allegedly billing for performing multiple surgeries in different operating rooms.

The Government Attorneys who helped achieve the settlement were Christopher Sabis of the U.S. Attorney's office for the Middle District of Tennessee and Allison Rousseau of the Department of Justice, and Jessica Myers and Mary McCullohs of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office.

The Physician relators were represented by co-lead counsel, Bruce Weil of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, and Senior Managing Partner David Stone of Stone & Magnanini. David Garrison of Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison, LLC served as local counsel.  "One aspect of this settlement, which we believe is unique to a non-intervened case, is the agreement that VUMC will engage a third party compliance expert to conduct an audit of its billing procedures," Stone stated.  "The Plaintiffs are conscientious former VUMC physicians who blew the whistle primarily because of their concerns about patient safety at VUMC.  We are hopeful the settlement we have reached today and the audit that will be performed will go a long way in preventing any possible future fraud and improving patient safety at the Hospital for many years to come." 

ABOUT STONE & MAGNANINI LLP

Stone & Magnanini, a nationally recognized boutique litigation firm, represents whistleblowers in False Claims Act cases  and consults on compliance matters to Fortune 500 Companies as well as cases filed under IRS, SEC, and other whistleblower statutes.  The firm has assisted its clients and various Federal and State Governments in some of the largest HealthCare Fraud recoveries in history including McKesson, Inc., Forest Laboratories, Cephalon, Medco, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 

SOURCE Stone & Magnanini LLP