NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2011
CONTACT
Jim Gottstein
9th Circuit Allows Fraud to Continue;
PsychRights Expects To File for Rehearing
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today affirmed the dismissal of the Medicaid Fraud Case, United States ex rel Law Project for Psychiatric Rights v. Matsutani, et al., because the Government knows of the fraud and isn't doing anything about it.
Jim Gottstein, president of the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights®) and the attorney handling the case said, "This decision essentially immunizes all similar past and future fraud from whistleblower cases in the 9th Circuit. We think the decision is wrong on the law and expect to file a petition for rehearing, but the main problem is the government is allowing this massive fraudulent scheme to continue."
Medicaid restricts coverage of outpatient drugs to those that are for a "medically accepted indication," but the drug companies induce doctors to prescribe harmful, ineffective psychiatric drugs to children and youth that are not for medically accepted indications in a fraudulent scheme that can be depicted as follows.
The Department of Justice has recovered billions of dollars from drug companies for causing false claims at Step 1 of the Fraudulent Scheme, but have declined intervention involving defendants at Steps 2 & 3. "This means that the drug companies pay their fines, cap their liability and continue to rake in the profits under the fraudulent scheme as the doctors continue to issue these uncovered prescriptions," said Mr. Gottstein.
To address this problem, in July of 2009, the PsychRights® launched its Medicaid Fraud Initiative with a model Qui Tam Complaint for people to use around the country.
Since then the government has declined to intervene in the Alaska case, an Illinois case and a Wisconsin case involving this fraudulent scheme.
In 2007-2008, there were two suspicious letters on the letterhead of the agency charged with administering the Medicaid program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), that assert Congress did not limit outpatient drug coverage under Medicaid to those used for a medically accepted indication. This is directly contrary to the formal position of the United States Government, taken in a number of False Claims Act cases against drug companies, such as the United States Statement of Interest in Polansky v. Pfizer.
"It is hard to escape the conclusion that the Department of Justice has succumbed to the politics of holding doctors accountable for their fraudulent conduct," Mr. Gottstein said, "The result is children's' health and even lives are being sacrificed on the altar of drug company profits."
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The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is a public interest law firm devoted to the defense of people facing the horrors of forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock. PsychRights is further dedicated to exposing the truth about psychiatric interventions and the courts being misled into ordering people subjected to these brain and body damaging drugs against their will. Due to the massive growth in psychiatric drugging of children and youth, PsychRights has made attacking this problem a priority. Extensive information about these dangers, and about the tragic damage caused by electroshock, is available on the PsychRights web site: http://psychrights.org/.
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[Previous decision]
http://psychrights.org/pr/
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2010
Trial Judge Tosses Medicaid Fraud Cases Because Government Officials Are Allowing the Fraud to Continue
On September 24, 2010 Alaska Federal District Court Judge Timothy Burgess dismissed two Medicaid Fraud cases brought by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights®) because government officials already know about the industry-wide fraud and are allowing it to continue.
[T]he Government already "has pursued False Claims Act cases and achieved extremely large recoveries against drug companies for causing the presentment of claims to Medicaid for prescriptions of psychotropic drugs that are not for medically accepted indications, including Geodon and Seroquel for use in children and youth." Thus, . . . the Government already knows about the conduct . . . . [1]
These large settlements, amounting to billions of dollars in fines are just a cost of doing business for the drug companies, doctors still prescribe these drugs that are not reimbursable under Medicaid, and Medicaid continues to pay these fraudulent claims. In spite of this, the judge ruled PsychRights and Daniel Griffin do not have whistleblower status because the government knows about the continuing fraud.
Jim Gottstein, PsychRights' president and the attorney handling the case, said, "We believe the judge misinterpreted the law and we expect to appeal. One of the reasons Congress passed the False Claims Act allowing private parties to sue on behalf of the government to recover for fraud was to address the problem of federal officials refusing to stop fraud against the government."
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The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is a public interest law firm devoted to the defense of people facing the horrors of forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock. PsychRights is further dedicated to exposing the truth about psychiatric interventions and the courts being misled into ordering people subjected to these brain and body damaging drugs and electroshock against their will. Due to massive growth in psychiatric drugging of children and youth and the current targeting of them for even more psychiatric drugging, PsychRights has made attacking this problem a priority. It is an unfolding national tragedy of immense proportions. Extensive information about the tragic damage caused psychiatric drugs and electroshock is available on the PsychRights web site: http://psychrights.org/
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[1] Page 21 in Docket No. 163, United States ex rel Law Project for Psychiatric Rights v. Matsutani et.al, No. 3:09-cv-80, and Docket No. 26 in U.S. ex rel Griffin v. Martino, Family Centered Services and Safeway, No. 3:09-cv-246.
[1] Page 21 in Docket No. 163, United States ex rel Law Project for Psychiatric Rights v. Matsutani et.al, No. 3:09-cv-80, and Docket No. 26 in U.S. ex rel Griffin v. Martino, Family Centered Services and Safeway, No. 3:09-cv-246.
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