Representative Cases - Jeff Newman Law

JEFF NEWMAN LAW ANNOUNCES $21.3 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH THE GRAND HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AND 12 AFFILIATED SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES FOR ALLEGEDLY PROVIDING AND BILLING FOR FRAUDULENT REHAB THERAPY SERVICES

On July 10, 2024, the Department of Justice announced it had reached a $21.3 million settlement with Strauss Ventures LLC, doing business as The Grand HealthCare System, and 12 affiliated skilled nursing facilities. This settlement resolves a qui tam lawsuit filed by two whistleblowers, former employees of the defendant, who retained Jeff Newman Law on the case. The case was filed in 2019 pursuant to the False Claims Act, which allows private persons to file civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. Under the settlement the whistleblowers will receive approximately $4,047,000 of the settlement proceeds. The case is captioned United States ex rel. Rosenberger and Retig v. Strauss Ventures, LLC, et al., No. 1:19-cv-1311 (N.D.N.Y.) For more information, see our press release.


United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ex rel. Martino-Fleming v. South Bay Mental Health Center, Inc.; Community Intervention Services, Inc.; H.I.G. Growth Partners, LLC; H.I.G. Capital, LLC; Peter J. Scanlon; and Kevin P. Sheehan- $25 Million (twenty-five million dollars)

Medicaid Billing Fraud

Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented Christine Martino-Fleming, who worked for South Bay Mental Health Center (“South Bay’), on operator of mental health clinics throughout Massachusetts. In her whistleblower complaint, Ms. Martino-Fleming alleged that the ultimate owners of South Bay, private equity firm H.I.G. Growth Partners, LLC, and H.I.G. Capital, LLC (“H.I.G.”), as well as two H.I.G. executives, caused South Bay to submit fraudulent bills to MassHealth (the Massachusetts Medicaid program) and its contractors for services provided by therapists and other professionals who were not licensed or were not properly supervised. H.I.G. and the two executives, Peter Scanlon and Kevin Sheehan, agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the fraud allegations. South Bay previously settled its portion of the case for $4 million, so that the total amount collected from the case is $29 million. The whistleblower award for this settlement is $6.75 million. Jeffrey Newman co-counseled the case with attorneys from Waters & Kraus, LLP and Hamilton Wingo, LLP. For more information, see our press release.


United States ex rel. Halpin and Fahey v. RehabCare Group, Inc.- $125 Million (one hundred and twenty-five million dollars)

Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud

Jeffrey Newman brought this case on behalf of Janet Halpin and Shawn Fahey, two whistleblowers who worked for RehabCare, which was the nation’s largest provider of rehabilitation therapy services in nursing homes. Ms. Halpin and Ms. Fahey alleged that RehabCare directed its therapists to bill for therapy that was not reasonable and necessary and that RehabCare then caused its nursing home customers to submit false claims to Medicare for the therapy. After the government investigated our allegations, it intervened in the case and then reached a $125 million settlement, from which our clients received a relator’s share of over $23 million. For more information, see our press release.


United States ex rel. Bliss v. Biocompatibles, Inc., and Angiodynamics, Inc.- $48.5 million (forty-eight and a half million dollars)

Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented whistleblower Ryan Bliss in a False Claims Act qui tam case against U.K. medical device maker Biocompatibles and its United States distributor, Angiodynamics. Bliss, who was a Senior Product Manager for Biocompatibles, alleged that the two companies marketed a product called LC Bead (or Gelspheres) as a chemotherapy drug delivery device, even though they knew that the United States Food and Drug Administration had refused to approve the device for that use. The companies also allegedly instructed physicians to bill for the device under a separate approved use, even when the physicians used it for its unapproved use. Biocompatibles paid a total of $36 million to resolve criminal and civil charges against it, and Angiodynamics paid $12.5 million to resolve Mr. Bliss’s False Claims Act suit. For more information, see our press releases about the Biocompatibles resolution and the Angiodynamics settlement.


United States ex rel. Meehan v. MedStar Ambulance Inc.- $12.7 million (twelve million, seven hundred thousand dollars)

Fraudulent Medicare Billing For Ambulance Services

On behalf of whistleblower Dale Meehan, a former billing manager at Medstar Ambulance, Jeffrey Newman brought this False Claims Act qui tam lawsuit alleging that Medstar and its subsidiaries fraudulently billed Medicare by submitting claims for ambulance transports that were not medically necessary or were for higher levels of ambulance services than were required or provided. Medstar, four of its subsidiaries, and two of its owners paid a total of $12.7 million to resolve the allegations that Ms. Meehan brought forward. The relator’s share was over $3.5 million. For more information, see our press release.


United States ex rel. Robins v. Roman & Sunstone LLC, et al.- $1.26 million (one million, two hundred and sixty thousand dollars)

Customs Fraud

Jeffrey Newman represented whistleblower Alan Robins, the former controller of jewelry importer Roman & Sunstone (R&S), in this action alleging that R&S underpaid customs duties on sterling silver earrings it imported from China. R&S imported display cards of the earrings for resale at department stores. While the display cards often included multiple pairs of earrings, R&S allegedly concealed the number and value of the earrings by describing on import records the number of display cards imported, rather than the number of individual earrings. The case resulted in settlements totaling over $1.26 million with R&S, its affiliates, and its prior owner. The relator’s share was over $220,000. For more information, see the DOJ press releases here and here.


United States ex rel. Wright et al. v. Saber Healthcare Holdings, LLC- $10 million (ten million dollars)

Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud

On behalf of three whistleblowers who worked as rehabilitation therapists and managers at nursing home chain Saber Healthcare, Jeffrey Newman brought suit under the False Claims Act alleging that Saber knowingly caused certain of its skilled nursing facilities to submit false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services that were not reasonable, necessary, or skilled. Saber paid $10 million to resolve the allegations, and our three whistleblower clients received a relator share of $1.75 million. For more information, see our press release.


United States ex rel. Cartier v. CareWell Urgent Care Centers- $2.1 million (two million, one thousand dollars)

Urgent Care Fraud

On behalf of Aileen Cartier, who worked as a Nurse Practitioner for CareWell Urgent Care Centers, Jeffrey Newman filed a False Claims Act suit alleging that CareWell directed its clinicians to conduct more thorough examinations than necessary so that it could upcode claims to a “Level 4” billing code and obtain higher reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid. CareWell paid $2.1 million to resolve the allegations.

For more information, see our press release and the complaint we filed on behalf of Ms. Cartier.


United States ex rel. Boerger v. Applied Research Associates Inc.- $1.1 million (one million, 1 thousand dollars)

Military Contracting Fraud

Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented whistleblower Brent Boerger, a former engineer at defense contractor Applied Research Associates (ARA), in a False Claims Act qui tam case alleging that ARA billed the Army for work unrelated to the contract the Army had awarded it. ARA paid $1.1 million to resolve the case, and Mr. Boerger received a share of that amount. For more information, see our blog and the complaint we filed on behalf of Mr. Boerger.


United States ex rel. Saffarian and Theile v. Encore Rehabilitation Services, LLC- $4 million (four million dollars)

Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud

Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented two of the whistleblowers who participated in a Department of Justice False Claims Act settlement with Encore Rehabilitation Services (Encore), a contract provider of rehabilitation services at skilled nursing facilities in over 30 states. According to the allegations, which Encore paid $4,033,346 to resolve, Encore had policies and practices at three Michigan skilled nursing facilities that resulted in the provision of unreasonable, unnecessary, or unskilled rehabilitation therapy or the recording of therapy minutes as individual therapy when concurrent or group therapy was actually provided. For more information, see our press release.


United States ex rel. Schultz v. Liberty Home Pharmacy and Polymedica Corp.- $35 million (thirty-five million dollars)

Pharmacy Medicare Fraud

Polymedica paid $35 million to resolve allegations by our client, whistleblower Claire Schultz, that two of Polymedica’s pharmacy subsidiaries violated the False Claims Act by dispensing and billing Medicare for diabetic and nebulizer products without first obtaining a signed doctor’s order or prescription for the products. Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented the whistleblower.

For more information, see the DOJ press release about the settlement.


United States ex rel. Halpin and Fahey v. Wingate Healthcare, Inc.- $3.9 Million (three million, nine hundred thousand dollars)

Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud

In connection with their case against RehabCare (see above), Jeffrey Newman also represented Janet Halpin and Shawn Fahey in their suit against Wingate Healthcare, Inc. (Wingate), which operated 16 skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts and New York. Wingate paid $3.9 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy that was not reasonable and necessary. From the settlement, our clients received a relator’s share of $741,000, plus interest and counsel fees. For more information, see our press release.