Search Results for: medicare

The US Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can retain its power to dismiss third-party federal whistleblower actions filed on behalf of the government under the False Claims Act (FCA). The FCA allows whistleblowers to sue on behalf of the government to recover taxpayer funds paid under false pretenses, with the [...]

An Australian law firm on Friday launched a class-action lawsuit against telecommunications giant Optus, seeking compensation for the fallout of a major data breach that occurred in September.  Filed in the Federal Court of Australia, the lawsuit accuses Optus of violating fundamental privacy principles and breaching its duty of care to its customers. The suit [...]

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Thursday became the first Australian jurisdiction to guarantee free abortion care. The new policy allows women living in the ACT to obtain abortion up to 16 weeks gestation. The ACT government noted that cost was a significant barrier to safe and legal abortions in the state. In a press release, [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Thursday blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees. The decision came from an en banc rehearing of the appeal, which was previously decided in favor of the government by a three-judge panel of the same court. The case turned on the central issue [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint Monday against Rite Aid claiming the corporation and its state branches filled prescriptions for controlled substances that were not medically necessary, did not have a valid prescription or were issued by prescribers acting outside their usual areas of practice. The Controlled Substances Act categorizes prescription drugs [...]

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is openly threatening to force a default on our nation’s debts unless President Biden agrees to a so far unspecified list of spending cuts to federal programs. But the president has a formidable constitutional argument against this irresponsible display of brinkmanship. It is disappointing that he has so far declined, at [...]

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Tuesday released a statement that it charged 23 Michigan residents, in two separate cases, for allegedly defrauding Medicare for $61.5 million. The illegal schemes involved paying bribes and billing Medicare for unneeded medical treatments that were never provided. First, a brief background on how this type of Medicare works. A [...]

The Department of Heath and Human Services (HHS) Wednesday announced an initiative to reduce the “inappropriate” use of antipsychotic drugs in US nursing homes. HHS Secretary Xavier Becrerra linked the improper drug use to erroneous schizophrenia diagnoses and argued that patients without an accurate diagnosis who take antipsychotics are at higher risk for poor care. [...]

Three Australian class action firms, purporting to represent as many as 9.7 million customers Monday announced a landmark Australian data breach class action plan against insurance provider Medibank after entering a joint cooperation agreement the previous week. The firms, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Bannister Law Class Actions and Centennial Lawyers, entered the agreement in relation to [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Tuesday reversed insider trading convictions against four defendants over leaks from a US healthcare agency. In the 2-1 decision, the court dismissed various fraud and theft charges against former hedge-fund partners Theodore Huber and Robert Olan, political intelligence consultant David Blaszczak and former US Centers for [...]