The accord, confirmed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Massachusetts, will resolve a lawsuit filed under the False Claims
Act by former employees of the respiratory therapy services provider
on behalf of the U.S. government.
"The matter was resolved to the satisfaction of all involved
parties, with no admission of liability by any party," Lincare said
in a statement.
Lincare, one of the largest U.S. providers of oxygen and respiratory
therapy services and equipment, did not admit wrongdoing. Its
settlement agreement was released late Monday after the deal
received the U.S. Justice Department's approval.
"Our clients are pleased the case has been settled and resolved and
look forward to moving on with their lives and careers," Daniel
Oliverio, a lawyer for the former Lincare employees who pursued the
case, said in a statement.
According to the lawsuit, Lincare since 2003 billed government
health programs, including Medicare, for oxygen equipment and tanks
even when customers did not use or require them, fabricated customer
oxygen orders and improperly waived customer co-payments and
deductibles.
The company also paid kickbacks to physicians and their families to
refer patients by providing them oxygen and supplies for free, the
lawsuit said.
In court papers, Lincare said it followed various regulations and
said the lawsuit was at most challenging "garden variety" billing
errors.
The case began as two separate lawsuits, one filed in 2009 by two
former Lincare employees in New York state, SallyJo Robins and
Kathleen Dunlap, and another in 2010 by Germano Lima and Roberto
Rabassa, ex-employees in Massachusetts.
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Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers can sue companies on the
government's behalf to recover taxpayer money paid out based on
fraudulent claims. If successful, whistleblowers receive a
percentage of the recovery.
While the U.S. Justice Department can intervene in such lawsuits, in
this case it did not, leaving the ex-employees to pursue it. The
department's approval was required to settle the case.
Under the deal, the U.S. government will receive $9 million. Another
$11 million will go to the former Lincare employees to cover their
share, plus attorneys' fees and costs, according to the settlement
agreement.
The case is U.S. ex rel. Robins, et al, v. Lincare Inc et al, U.S.
District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 10-cv-12256.
(This version of the story was refiled to remove paragraph 6 saying
Linde did not respond to a request for comment)
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and
Shounak Dasgupta)
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