Florida Qui Tam Attorneys

Do you have information regarding a business or person responsible for submitting false claims for reimbursement to the United States Government or the State of Florida (or any other state government)?

Do you know of a medical practice that may be committing Medicare or Medicaid fraud?

Do you know of a business practice that is illegal and fraudulent?

If so, you may have a valid claim under the Federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733, or the Florida Whistle-Blower's Act, Florida Statutes § 448.101 et seq., or § 112.3187 et seq.

The False Claims Act and the Florida Whistle-Blower Act contain qui tam or "whistleblower" provisions. This means that people who come forward with evidence of fraud committed against either the federal government or a state government may sue the alleged wrongdoer on behalf of the government in order to recover misappropriated funds. As a "reward" for filing a successful qui tam case, the reporting party or "whistleblower" (also known as a relator) is entitled to share in the government's recovery.

Some examples of whistle-blower cases include:

• A medical provider (hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, private and/or family practices, etc.) who bills Medicare or Medicaid for services performed in violation of Medicare and/or Medicaid guidelines; or, a medical provider who over bills Medicare and/or Medicaid by "upcoding"; or, a provider who performs unnecessary services on Medicare or Medicaid patients;
• Misallocation of federal and/or state funds designated for public schools;
• A government contractor who falsifies requests for reimbursement submitted to the government;
• A federal or state grant recipient submits claims for reimbursement to the government for costs or items not related to the grant.

• A private company that knowingly engages in fraudulent billing of its customers and is paid money to which it is not entitled.

According to the False Claims Act Legal Center, the following are typical of the types of fraud that may be prosecuted under whistle-blower laws:

• Billing for goods and services that were never delivered or rendered.
• Billing for marketing, lobbying or other non-contract related corporate activities.
• Submitting false service records or samples in order to show better-than-actual performance.
• Presenting broken or untested equipment as operational and tested.
• Performing inappropriate or unnecessary medical procedures in order to increase Medicare reimbursement.
• Billing for work or tests not performed.
• Billing for premium equipment but actually providing inferior equipment.
• Automatically running a lab test whenever the results of some other test fall within a certain range, even though the second test was not specifically requested.
• Defective testing - Certifying that something has passed a test, when in fact it has not.
• "Lick and stick" prescription rebate fraud and "marketing the spread" prescription fraud, both of which involve lying to the government about the true wholesale price of prescription drugs.
• Unbundling - Using multiple billing codes instead of one billing code for a drug panel test in order to increase remuneration.
• Bundling -- Billing more for a panel of tests when a single test was asked for.
• Double billing - Charging more than once for the same goods or service.
• Upcoding - Inflating bills by using diagnosis billing codes that suggest a more expensive illness or treatment.
• Billing for brand -- Billing for brand-named drugs when generic drugs are actually provided.
• Phantom employees and doctored time slips: Charging for employees that were not actually on the job, or billing for made-up hours in order to maximize reimbursements.
• Upcoding employee work: Billing at doctor rates for work that was actually conducted by a nurse or resident intern.
• Yield burning -- skimming off the profits from the sale of municipal bonds.
• Falsifying natural resource production records -- Pumping, mining or harvesting more natural resources from public lands that is actually reported to the government.
• Being over-paid by the government for sale of a good or service, and then not reporting that overpayment.
• Misrepresenting the value of imported goods or their country of origin for tariff purposes.
• False certification that a contract falls within certain guidelines (i.e. the contractor is a minority or veteran).
• Billing in order to increase revenue instead of billing to reflect actual work performed.
• Failing to report known product defects in order to be able to continue to sell or bill the government for the product.
• Billing for research that was never conducted; falsifying research data that was paid for by the U.S. government.
• Winning a contract through kickbacks or bribes.
• Prescribing a medicine or recommending a type of treatment or diagnosis regimen in order to win kickbacks from hospitals, labs or pharmaceutical companies.
• Billing for unlicensed or unapproved drugs.
• Forging physician signatures when such signatures are required for reimbursement from Medicare or Medicaid.

If you or anyone you know has knowledge relating to false claims submitted to either the federal or state government, please contact our office immediately.

We are a multi-lingual firm. Our staff is fluent in French, Spanish, and Creole.

Dempsey & Associates, P.A.
1560 Orange Ave., Suite 200
Winter Park, Florida 32789
Phone: (407) 422-5166
Fax: (407) 422-8556

Located near downtown Orlando at the Mercantile Bank Plaza building at the corner of Orange Avenue and Orlando Avenue (US 17-92) (Mills Avenue) in Winter Park, Florida , we represent clients throughout Central Florida, including Orlando, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Sanford, Lake Mary, Kissimmee, Windermere, Oviedo, Winter Springs, and Winter Garden. Our representation spans Orange County, Brevard County, Seminole County, Osceola County, Volusia County (Daytona), Lake County, Polk County, Hillsborough County (Tampa), Pinellas County (St. Petersburg/Clearwater), Marion County, and Alachua County. We also represent clients throughout the entire state of Florida and beyond.