Florida Surgeon Handed Seven Years in Prison for $28 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On November 18, 2021, a Tallahassee surgeon was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for committing health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The scheme involved performing hundreds of medically unnecessary, […]
Follow These Steps If You Receive an OIG Subpoena from the DOH
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues investigative subpoenas through the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). This agency investigates allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse against Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded healthcare programs. […]
Steps to Take If You Receive an OIG Subpoena from the DOH
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues investigative subpoenas through the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). This agency investigates allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse against Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded healthcare programs. […]
Steps to Take If You Receive an OIG Subpoena from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues investigative subpoenas through the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). This agency investigates allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse against Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded healthcare programs. […]
Supreme Court Says FCA Case Liability Requires Defendants’ Subjective Belief
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court handed down an opinion on the knowledge standard required in False Claims Act (FCA) cases in a precedential decision that leaves the whistleblower plaintiffs bar reeling. In a unanimous ruling, the […]
Florida Surgeon Gets 7 Years for Committing $28 Million in Health Care Fraud
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On November 18, 2021, a Tallahassee surgeon was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for committing health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The scheme involved performing hundreds of medically unnecessary, […]
Women Who Posed as Nurse Sentenced to Prison For Health Care Fraud, Identity Theft, and Wire Fraud
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On September 23, 2020, a Tennessee woman who posed as a nurse working at several medical facilities was sentenced to more than four years in prison. In December 2019, she pled guilty to wire fraud, healthcare fraud, identity […]
Woman Posing as Nurse For Six Years Sentenced to Prison For Health Care Fraud, Identity Theft, and Wire Fraud

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On September 23, 2020, a Tennessee woman who posed as a nurse working at several medical facilities was sentenced to more than four years in prison. In December 2019, she pled guilty to wire fraud, healthcare fraud, […]
Forest Labs Agree to Pay $38 Million Settlement to End Whistle Blower’s FCA Suit
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On December 15, 2016, Forest Laboratories agreed to pay $38 million to resolve a whistle blower’s False Claims Act (FCA) suit involving allegations that it paid kickbacks to doctors who prescribed three of the company’s drugs, the U.S. […]
Wisconsin Supermarket Violated FCA With Illegal Kickbacks, Pharmacist Claims
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On December 20, 2016, a pharmacist and whistle blower told an Illinois federal court that Wisconsin and Chicago-area chain of grocery stores, Roundy’s Supermarket, Inc. (Roundy’s), knew gift cards it was providing Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries were actually […]
DOJ Releases 2016 False Claims Act Recovery Statistics: Third Highest Annual Recovery Ever
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On December 14, 2016, the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual False Claims Act (FCA) recovery statistics. It revealed that the DOJ obtained more than $4.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving […]
3 Sentenced in Florida for $175 Million Drug Compounding Fraud Scheme
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On March 24, 2017, three participants were sentenced in Florida federal court, for a scheme that used call centers and kickbacks to generate fake prescriptions for compounding pharmacies. The scheme was able to scam the government and private […]
Alabama Doctor and 3 Nurse Practitioners Charged With Running Fraudulent Pill Mill
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On December 6, 2017, three nurse practitioners and a doctor were arrested following an Alabama federal grand jury indictment accusing them of operating a “pill mill.” According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), all four allegedly dispensed […]
Judge Refuses to Dismiss Whistleblower’s False Research Data Suit Against Duke University and Two Faculty Members
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On April 27, 2017, a federal judge in North Carolina refused to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit against Duke University and some of its faculty. The suit alleges that Duke knowingly falsified medical research data in […]