The owner of South Louisiana Home Health Care Inc. and the director of nursing for the Louisiana home health agency were sentenced today for their roles in a Medicare fraud scheme involving the payment of kickbacks and the falsification of documents.

Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics Inc., Shands Jacksonville Medical Center Inc. and Shands Jacksonville Healthcare Inc., which operates a network of health care providers in Florida, will pay the government and the state of Florida a total of $26 million to settle allegations that six of its health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs for inpatient procedures that should have been billed as outpatient services.

A patient recruiter and a therapy staffing company owner pleaded guilty today in connection with a $7 million health care fraud scheme involving the now defunct home health care company Anna Nursing Services Corp.

Two patient recruiters of a Miami health care company pleaded guilty late yesterday for their participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

The owners and operators of several Miami home health care agencies and a patient recruiter pleaded guilty today in connection with a health care fraud scheme involving defunct home health care company Trust Care Health Services Inc. (Trust Care).

A Brooklyn, N.Y., resident pleaded guilty today for his role as a patient recruiter in a $13 million kickback and health care fraud scheme, the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the scheme based at the Cropsey Medical Care PLLC clinic in Brooklyn.

Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez met at the White House to kick off a comprehensive interagency initiative to prevent, protect against, and where necessary prosecute consumer fraud and privacy violations in the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Today the Department of Justice filed a complaint and a simultaneous settlement agreement in the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to ensure that prisoners at the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Va., receive appropriate medical and mental health care.

Five Miami residents have been charged for their alleged roles in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

A patient recruiter of a Miami health care company pleaded guilty today for his participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

Several patient recruiters, including two medical clinic owners, have been arrested in connection with a health care fraud scheme involving defunct home health care company Flores Home Health Care Inc. (Flores Home Health).

The administrator and employee of two Miami health care companies was sentenced today to serve 60 months in prison for her participation in a $74 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

A Rockford, Ill., man was arrested today in connection with an indictment charging three Chicago-area residents for their roles in an alleged $12 million health care fraud scheme.

A federal jury in Houston has convicted Gwendolyn Climmons-Johnson, 53, of multiple counts of health care fraud for submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for ambulance services.

A patient broker of a South Florida psychiatric hospital was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for her participation in a $67 million Medicare fraud scheme.

A former therapist for Biscayne Milieu, a Miami-based mental-health clinic, was sentenced today to serve 120 in prison for his participation in a $55 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The owner of a Detroit-area home health care agency was sentenced today to serve 65 months in prison for her leading role in a $2.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Detroit-area resident Javed Rehman was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison today for his role in a $13.8 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The former owner of a defunct durable medical equipment (DME) clinic based in Miami pleaded guilty today for his role in an $11 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The owner and operator of several Miami health care agencies was sentenced today to serve 120 months in prison for his role in a health care fraud scheme involving defunct home health care company Trust Care Health Services Inc.

Two health care clinic owners were sentenced today in connection with an $8 million health care fraud scheme involving the now-defunct home health care company Flores Home Health Care Inc.

Three patient recruiters for a Miami health care company pleaded guilty today for their participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

A patient recruiter of a Miami health care company was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison today for his participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

Two patient recruiters for Miami health care companies were sentenced today for their participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme

A former licensed mental health counselor at the defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN) pleaded guilty today in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for his role in a $63 million health care fraud scheme

The owner of a Miami home health care company was sentenced to serve 235 months in prison today for her participation in a $7 million health care fraud scheme involving defunct home health care company Anna Nursing Services Corp.

The Justice Department announced today that the United States and a coalition of mental health advocacy organizations have entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement with the state of New Hampshire that will transform New Hampshire’s mental health system by significantly expanding and enhancing mental health service capacity in integrated community settings.

A patient recruiter and a therapy staffing company owner were sentenced today to serve 50 months and 46 months in prison, respectively, for their participation in a $7 million health care fraud scheme.

St. James Healthcare (St. James), a hospital located in Butte, Mont., and its parent company, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System (Sisters of Charity), a health care organization based in Denver, Colo., have agreed to pay $3.85 million to resolve allegations that they violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law and the False Claims Act by improperly providing financial benefits to physicians and physician groups that made referrals to the hospital.

The owner and operator of a Miami medical clinic pleaded guilty today in connection with multiple health care fraud schemes involving the defunct clinic Merfi Corp.

Several patient recruiters, including a medical clinic owner, pleaded guilty today in connection with a health care fraud scheme involving Flores Home Health Care Inc., a defunct home health care company.

Michael R. Barr, former chief executive officer of Louisville, Kentucky-based HealthEssentials Solutions Inc., has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations that he knowingly caused HealthEssentials to submit false claims to Medicare between 1999 and 2004.

The government has intervened in eight False Claims Act lawsuits against Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) alleging that HMA billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary inpatient admissions from the emergency departments at HMA hospitals and paid remuneration to physicians in exchange for patient referrals.

The operator and director of nursing of a home health agency based in Richmond, Texas, was arrested yesterday for her alleged role in a Medicare fraud scheme and a conspiracy to structure bank withdrawals.

A home health agency owner who participated in a Medicare fraud scheme that totaled almost $11 million was sentenced in Detroit today to serve 120 months in prison.

The Justice Department’s Medicare Fraud Strike Force has set record numbers for health care prosecutions in Fiscal Year 2013, demonstrating the targeted and coordinated approach remains strong as the strike force enters its eighth year of fighting fraud against the government’s health care programs.

Pavel Zborovskiy, 57, of Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks in connection with a $13 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme.

The former owner of a defunct durable medical equipment (DME) clinic was sentenced today in Miami to serve 70 months in prison for his role in an $11 million health care fraud scheme involving World Class Medical Clinic Corp.

Medical device manufacturer EndoGastric Solutions Inc. has agreed to pay the government up to $5.25 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misleading health care providers about how to bill federal health care programs for a procedure using a device manufactured by the company and by paying kickbacks.

The government has intervened in a False Claims Act lawsuit against Tenet Healthcare Corp. (Tenet) and four of its hospitals in Georgia and South Carolina, as well as a hospital in Monroe, Ga., owned by Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA), alleging that the hospitals paid kickbacks to obstetric clinics serving primarily undocumented Hispanic women in return for referral of those patients for labor and delivery at the hospitals.

Pharmaceutical company Endo Health Solutions Inc. and its subsidiary Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Endo) have agreed to pay $192.7 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from Endo’s marketing of the prescription drug Lidoderm for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration.

Diagnostic Imaging Group (DIG) has agreed to pay a total of $15.5 million to resolve allegations that its diagnostic testing facility falsely billed federal and state health care programs for tests that were not performed or not medically necessary and by paying kickbacks to physicians.

Attorney General Eric Holder and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released the annual Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control (HCFAC) Program report showing that for every dollar spent on health care-related fraud and abuse investigations through this and other programs in the last three years, the government recovered $8.10. This is the highest three-year average return on investment in the 17-year history of the HCFAC Program.

Calling the rise in overdose deaths from heroin and other prescription pain-killers an “urgent public health crisis,” Attorney General Eric Holder vowed Monday that the Justice Department would combat the epidemic through a mix of enforcement and treatment efforts. As an added step, the Attorney General is also encouraging law enforcement agencies to train and equip their personnel with the life-saving, overdose-reversal drug known as naloxone.

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and a subsidiary, IVAX LLC, have agreed to pay the government and the state of Illinois $27.6 million for allegedly violating the False Claims Act by making payments to induce prescriptions of an anti-psychotic drug for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

Today, the Justice Department sought a federal court order temporarily restraining the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) from unlawfully secluding boys with mental health needs in its juvenile correctional facilities.

Several patient recruiters, including a medical clinic owner, were sentenced today for their participation in a health care fraud scheme involving Flores Home Health Care Inc., a defunct home health care company.

The owner and operator of a Miami medical clinic, Merfi Corp., was sentenced today to serve 108 months in prison for her participation in multiple health care fraud schemes.

A Southern California man who ran a durable medical equipment (DME) supply company has been found guilty by a federal jury in Los Angeles for his role in a $1.5 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The office manager of a Detroit-area home health agency was sentenced today to serve 46 months in prison for her role in a $5.8 million Medicare fraud scheme.