Author: JGL Law

DOJ FILES COMPLAINT, JOINING WHISTLEBLOWER CASE AGAINST

INDIANA HOSPITAL SYSTEM COMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – January 7, 2020– The Court unsealed a False Claims Act lawsuit on December 23, 2019, filed by seasoned healthcare finance and operations executive Thomas Fischer against Indianapolis based Community Health Network. Fischer is a whistleblower, filing under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. His complaint alleges that Community paid physician kickbacks for years in a variety of forms to encourage them to steer patients to Community’s hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and other facilities.

On behalf of the federal government, the Department of Justice partially joined the lawsuit in August and filed its own complaint this week. It methodically details alleged kickback schemes related to physician compensation totaling many tens of millions of dollars citing critical witness testimony to bolster its claims.

Both federal and state law prohibit payments of any kind – including inflated salaries and lucrative investment opportunities – to physicians to influence where the physicians treat or refer patients. Fischer’s whistleblower and retaliation complaint alleges that Community did just that – paying doctors substantial kickbacks in the form of inflated salaries, bonuses and investment opportunities to get them to send unwitting patients to Community’s hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and other facilities instead of to competing healthcare providers. The total number of patients affected will be investigated in the litigation.   

Mr. Fischer’s litigation team includes veteran whistleblower and employment attorneys who look forward to prosecuting the case alongside the government in a public-private partnership.

“The government’s intervention demonstrates how seriously it takes the allegations Tom Fischer raised,” said Jay P. Holland, lead counsel for Mr. Fischer. Fischer’s Indianapolis–based attorney Kathleen DeLaney added, “as the case goes forward, we look forward to continuing to work with the government to hold Community Health Network responsible for any illegal and retaliatory conduct.”

Mr. Fischer’s other counsel, Tim McCormack and Veronica Nannis, described the laws at issue. “Congress passed the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law because studies showed that doctors often ordered more, often medically unnecessary, services if they had improper financial incentives,” explained McCormack. Nannis added, “prosecuting these cases is about protecting patients. When hospitals lock up referrals by paying kickbacks, they don’t have to compete for patients by offering lower cost, higher quality care and responsive customer service.”  

Mr. Fischer praised the government’s investigation. “I am grateful for all the hard work the Department of Justice invested in investigating these issues,” said Mr. Fischer. “At its core, the problems I reported are not about arcane financial dealings; they affect real lives of patients, hospital employees and the excessive cost of healthcare services in the Indianapolis marketplace.”   

The case is captioned U.S. and State of Indiana ex rel Fischer v. Community Health Network, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:14-cv-1215-RLY-DKL. Mr. Fischer is represented by a team of attorneys including Jay Holland, Veronica Nannis and Sarah Chu from Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, Tim McCormack from Van Meer & Belanger and Kathleen DeLaney from DeLaney & DeLaney LLC in Indianapolis. The government’s team is led by Arthur DiDio of the U.S. Department of Justice, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Josh Minkler, and Civil Chief for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana, Shelese Woods.   

Representation of a client in an obstetrical malpractice case which resulted in $5,000,000 settlement.

Michael Dano Jackley, founder of the business law and tax department at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, PA, died Sunday, December 22, 2019, in Winchester, Virginia.

Mr. Jackley, a Baltimore native, was 77 years old. He joined the Prince George’s County firm in 1973 when the firm decided to expand its litigation based practice to business. He later added to his department and expanded its practice to include estate planning. He was a partner at the firm for 32 years, having been so elected after just three years of employment there.

Mr. Jackley was a graduate of the University of Maryland (political science) and attended the University of Maryland School of Law at night while working full time as a financial analyst for the Internal Revenue Service. He then attended the George Washington National  Law Center, again as a night student, earning a master’s degree in corporate law with highest honors.

Mr. Jackley, known for his humor and love of music, represented a wide variety of local,  regional, and national business clients, ranging from actress Tippi Hedron, to singers Peaches and Herb, to numerous businesses including medical practices, accounting firms, builders, printers, and major government contractors.

Before his retirement in 2008 due to heart issues, Mr. Jackley was named as among Washington’s top tax attorneys by Washingtonian Magazine five times and as one of the top local business attorneys by Baltimore Magazine.

In his retirement, Mr. Jackley was active in the Loudon Fairfax Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injuries.

Mr. Jackley is survived by his wife, Karen K. Jackley, of Middleburg, Virginia, whom he married in 1987, a daughter Megan of Seattle and two grandsons, and two step-daughters.

A celebration of Mr. Jackley’s life will be held in Middleburg, Virginia, in mid-January 2020.

Upheld the then largest ever verdict against Prince George’s County in police abuse case; established new cause of action for pattern or practice of constitutional violations under Maryland Constitution. Prince George’s County v. Longtin (Md. 2011)

Maryland – The 2020 edition of Maryland, Super Lawyers magazine recently named 13 Joseph Greenwald & Laake, P.A. attorneys to its annual Maryland, Super Lawyers lists.

Among which Patrick W. Dragga was listed as one of the lawyers who ranked top in the 2020 Maryland Super Lawyers (Top 100). 

The Maryland, attorneys who made this year’s Super Lawyers list, including their primary practice areas as identified by Super Lawyers, are:

GREENBELT, MD –

• Andrew E. Greenwald –  Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff

• Burt M. Kahn – Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff

• Jay P. Holland – Labor & Employment

• Steven M. Pavsner – Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff

• Timothy F. Maloney – Gen Litigation 

• Walter E. Laake – Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff

ROCKVILLE, MD – 

• David M. Bulitt – Family Law

• Jeffrey N. Greenblatt – Family Law

• Patrick W. Dragga – Family Law 

• P. Lindsay Parvis – Family Law 

• Anne E. Grover – Family Law

RISING STAR  – 

• Alyse Prawde – Civil Litigation: Plaintiff 

• Rama Taib-Lopez – Family Law

• Christopher R. Castellano – Family Law

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

About Joseph Greenwald & Laake

For more than 40 years, Joseph Greenwald & Laake has worked with individuals and businesses in Maryland and the District of Columbia, taking on the most complex of legal issues with sophisticated counsel and a personal touch. JGL serves clients in virtually all areas of the law.

After more than four decades of serving his clients in the Washington, DC, area, one of our founding partners, Walter Laake has decided to retire from the practice of law effective October 30, 2019.

As one of the area’s preeminent personal injury lawyers over the years, Walter won sizeable verdicts for countless individuals who suffered serious injuries and helped to establish many landmark legal precedents. He had a very creative approach to some of the legal problems our clients faced.

He served as the managing director of our Firm, for many years. In his spare time, he served as Prince George’s County Bar Association’s President as well as serving as President of the Maryland Association of Justice (known at the time as The Maryland Trial Lawyers Association)

We stand ready to continue in Walter’s footsteps and to provide the highest quality legal services to the people of Maryland and beyond.

Successfully obtained a settlement on behalf of 13 children who had been sexually abused by a teacher’s aide at Sylvania Woods Elementary School in Prince George’s County.

US Department of Justice Files Complaint Against Surgeon in JGL Whistleblower Case

Claims Surgeon Received Kickbacks, Performed Unnecessary

Spinal Surgeries, Resulting in Patient Harm

Last month, we reported here that we represent two surgeons who stepped forward as whistleblowers by filing  a lawsuit against Sanford Health in South Dakota and Sanford neurosurgeon Wilson Asfora, M.D. Sanford Health recently settled its portion of the lawsuit for more than $20 million. The lawsuit alleged that Sanford Health had failed to take appropriate corrective action to prevent illegal kickbacks and unnecessary spine surgeries performed by spinal surgeon Wilson Asfora. The case received widespread local and national media attention.

With the hospital having settled and entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement requiring continued monitoring by the federal government, on November 13, the latest development in this case emerged when the US Department of Justice filed a detailed 83-page  complaint  against remaining defendants, Dr. Asfora and his physician-owned distributorship, Medical Designs.

The Justice Department’s complaint claims that Dr. Asfora performed medically unnecessary spinal surgeries on Medicare and Medicaid patients at Sanford Health in order to profit from the devices he manufactured and used in those surgeries. Dr. Asfora’s activities violated federal anti-kickback laws, the complaint alleges, and as a result of some of those surgeries, patients were paralyzed or were forced to endure surgeries on the wrong body site.

JGL’s Veronica Nannis and Jay Holland proudly represent the whistleblower surgeons who initially brought this case to the federal government in 2016 after countless efforts to correct the issue internally failed. “The allegations in this case are incredibly serious, and we are grateful to the government for stepping into this case to partner with us,” said Ms. Nannis.

While the hospital settled its portion of the case, the federal government, alongside Nannis, Holland and their clients, continue to pursue the civil case against the doctor and his companies. For  media coverage of the Justice Department’s filing, see this article from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Earlier this year, the hospital announced that it was suspending the purchase of devices sold by Dr. Asfora’s device companies. It has since announced the termination of Dr. Asfora from the hospital system.

Bethesda Magazine surveyed attorneys who practice in Montgomery County asking them to name the attorneys they would recommend in 25 practice areas.

8 JGL attorneys were included in the resulting “Top Attorney” listings:

Family Law/Divorce

David Bulitt

Jeffrey Greenblatt

Anne Grover

Lindsay Parvis

Trusts & Estates

Paul Riekhof

Appellate

Timothy Maloney

Business/Corporate

Jerry D. Miller

Employment Law

Jay P. Holland

For the complete article, visit www.bethesdamagazine.com and click on “Digital Edition” (requires subscription).

1.       What made you become a lawyer?

My college professor was a personal injury lawyer and taught a course called Legal Aspects of Medicine.  He soon became a mentor.  I then was applying to Medical School but my wife got pregnant which changed my career path as Medicine would take 12 + years and Law took only 3 years. Hence, I chose law. 

2.       What will be the biggest challenge for the generation behind you?

Billable hours.  Most lawyers earn money on how they bill.  With the advancement of technology, we work much faster and efficiently, as a result the new generation takes less time to write a pleading. The negative part of this is that I think the new generation is less prepared for litigation as they are doing virtually everything on-line and miss important legal concepts and facts that are on paper.

3.       What is the most interesting case you’ve ever had?

I had represented a prominent football coach. That’s all I can reveal.

4.       How do you measure success?

What others say about you when you are not around, especially professionally is extremely important. I measure success through one’s reputation.

5.       What do you look forward to when you go to work every day?

I look forward to leaving the office. Jokes aside, I look forward to a productive day and then getting back to my kids.

GREENBELT, MD – October 28, 2019 – A whistleblower case alleging kickbacks and unnecessary spine surgeries has been settled by Sanford Health in South Dakota for $20.25 million. The False Claims Act settlement is believed to be one of the largest in the district.

Two Sanford surgeons filed the complaint under seal in August 2016 under the whistleblower process (qui tam) in the False Claims Act. It alleged that the lucrative Sanford neurosurgeon, Dr. Asfora, was selling medical devices to Sanford for surgeries he performed, resulting in an unlawful economic incentive for him to use, and overuse, the devices on unwitting patients. The complaint alleged that this kickback scheme resulted in multi-level, medically unnecessary spinal fusion surgeries to scores of Medicare and Medicaid patients.

The complaint recounted the numerous efforts made over many years by the physician whistleblowers and others to implore Sanford to take appropriate actions to stop the alleged unlawful kickbacks and the resulting unnecessary spinal surgeries. As alleged, Sanford repeatedly failed to take corrective measures, and the physicians had no choice but to bring their grave concerns to the federal government “as a last resort” by filing the whistleblower complaint and fully cooperating with the Government’s investigation.

Their efforts have now successfully met their goal of protecting patients from these unnecessary and harmful surgeries. The case received widespread local and national attention after the Government intervened and the court unsealed the record in June 2019. In July, the hospital announced that it was suspending the purchase of devices sold by Dr. Asfora’s device companies. It has since announced the termination of Dr. Asfora from the hospital system.

The Department of Justice announced today that Sanford settled its share of the litigation for $20.25 million. In addition, the government entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) with Sanford, requiring that “Sanford maintain a compliance program, implement a risk assessment program, and hire an Independent Review Organization to review Medicare and Medicaid claims at Sanford Medical Center.” Moreover, the CIA also requires compliance-related certifications from the board of directors and key executives at Sanford, increasing individual accountability. The case against Dr. Asfora and his company, Medical Designs, continues to be prosecuted.

JGL’s Veronica Nannis and Jay Holland are honored to represent the physician relators. They are also thankful for the assistance of local counsel, Robert Anderson, and for the comprehensive investigation performed by the experienced government attorneys dedicated to this case, particularly DOJ Trial Attorney Chris Terranova and Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Roche from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sioux Falls. “The government’s commitment to investigating and wholeheartedly pursuing this case underscores its keen desire to protect patients, root out fraud and protect taxpayer dollars,” said Holland.

Greenbelt, Maryland based Joseph, Greenwald & Laake filed the lawsuit in August 2016. The case caption is US ex rel Bechtold v. Sanford Health, et al., Case 4:16-cv-04115-LLP (S.D.).

Jay Holland is a partner at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, and is Chair of the Firm’s Labor, Employment and Qui Tam practice. He is an employment and a whistleblower attorney with a nationwide qui tam practice. His False Claims Act cases have resulted in recoveries of over $600 million for the United States. His recent publications include articles for The National Law Journal, Trial Magazine, DC Trial Lawyer, and the Maryland State Bar Association Employment Law Deskbook. He can be reached at jholland@jgllaw.com

Veronica Nannis is a partner at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, and is the Chair of the Firm’s Civil Litigation Department. She is a whistleblower and a class action attorney focusing on fraud cases. A Super Lawyer’s Rising Star in DC and Maryland for the last several years, she was also awarded the Maryland Association for Justice’s Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 2011 with the team from Joseph, Greenwald & Laake. Recent publications include those for Law 360 and The Daily Record. She can be reached at vnannis@jgllaw.com

This blog, the second in a three-part series, (click here for Part 1) looks at other states’ grounds for divorce and how they compare to Maryland, when considering the broader question (discussed in Part 3) about whether it’s time to overhaul Maryland’s grounds for divorce.  Part 1 looks at trends in changes to Maryland’s grounds for divorce over the last several years.  I welcome hearing from readers about their thoughts.

How Other States Approach Grounds for Divorce?

Without comprehensively discussing all states’ laws, there are some notable trends and differences.

Most states’ grounds for divorce fall into the same broad categories as Maryland:

1)      Fault and no fault grounds; and,

2)      Grounds requiring a physical separation and those that do not.

Like Maryland, most states include grounds for incarceration/conviction of a crime, insanity, cruelty/domestic violence, and separation (fault or no fault).

What Do Other States Do Differently?

As for differences, at least 20 states do not recognize adultery as a ground.  Approximately 11 states offer one or very few grounds for divorce, being no fault only divorce states.  And, many states allow “legal separation” as either an alternatively or precursor to divorce.  Among the states allowing separation-based divorce, whether on a fault or no fault basis, separation periods vary from 3 months to 7 years, with an average no fault separation period of 1 to 2 years. 

Grounds permitted by other states of note:

·         Drug and/or alcohol addiction;

·         A breakdown in the marriage, often requiring no separation, having varying titles, such as:

o   Irreconcilable differences;

o   Complete incompatibility;

o   Irretrievable breakdown in the marriage, sometimes requiring failed reconciliations attempts;

·         Impotence;

·         Fraud or fraudulent contract, such as a deception that undermines the essence of the marriage;

·         Pregnancy, if unknown at the time of marriage and by someone other than the spouse;

·         Refusal to financially support a spouse;

·         Varying religious grounds (for example, joining a religious sect disavowing marriage);

·         Bigamy;

·         Deviant sexual behavior, which may include marital rape;

·         Ouster forcing a spouse out of the home and marriage;

·         Gross neglect of legal duties, either to the marriage, a spouse, or child; and,

·         Attempted murder of one’s spouse.

Closing Thoughts

Given the variety of grounds for divorce recognized by other states and developments in Maryland’s grounds for divorce (discussed in Part 1), it is time for Maryland to look at its grounds for divorce, addressing such questions as:

·         Whether to shift away from fault grounds to no fault only grounds?

·         Whether to continue to have fault grounds, and if how expand Maryland’s fault grounds?

·         Whether to further shorten or eliminate separation periods?

·         Whether there is a need for Maryland to offer and recognize “legal separation”?

·         Whether any of Maryland’s grounds are obsolete and should be eliminated?

My next blog in this series ties together Maryland’s trends with other states’ approaches, to consider whether it’s time for a broader update to Maryland’s grounds for divorce and what types of updates.

You can follow Lindsay Parvis for discussion, news, and developments in Maryland family law on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LindsayParvis.com, as well as subscribe to her Newsletter