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TexasTowelie's JournalCompound Ingredient Supplier Fagron Holding USA LLC to Pay $22.05 Million to Resolve Allegations of
Compound Ingredient Supplier Fagron Holding USA LLC to Pay $22.05 Million to Resolve Allegations of False and Inflated Average Wholesale Prices for Ingredients Used in Compounded PrescriptionsWASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today that Fagron Holding USA LLC (Fagron) has agreed to pay $22.05 million to resolve allegations concerning the establishment of false and inflated Average Wholesale Prices (AWPs) by its wholly owned subsidiary Freedom Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Freedom) for active pharmaceutical ingredients used in compound prescriptions. Freedom’s pricing scheme caused pharmacies that purchased Freedom’s compound ingredients to submit false prescription claims to the Defense Health Agency, which administers the TRICARE Program for the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers Compensation Programs (federal healthcare programs).
“We will not allow the systematic abuse of federal healthcare programs through pricing schemes designed to enrich a few at the expense of federal taxpayers,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Our commitment to protect these programs extends not only to the pursuit of those that submit fraudulent claims but also those who cause others to submit such claims.”
Compounding pharmacies purchase ingredients or chemicals from ingredient suppliers such as Freedom to prepare and fill compound prescriptions for patients who require a specially made prescription that is not generally available in the marketplace. Freedom knew that compound prescription reimbursement under these federal programs was based in part on the AWPs it reported to various price listing agencies for its ingredients. Freedom knowingly inflated the AWPs for its ingredients in order to increase the reimbursement that its pharmacy customers received from federal healthcare programs for using Freedom’s ingredients. For example, Freedom established an AWP for the ingredient Fluticasone Propionate at $3,500 per gram even though it typically sold the Fluticasone Propionate for approximately $160 per gram.
Freedom promoted its high AWPs and the resulting profit potential from the reimbursement of compound prescriptions as an inducement to pharmacies to purchase its ingredients. Freedom’s fraudulent pricing scheme for its ingredients enabled its pharmacy customers to bill federal healthcare programs thousands of dollars per prescription for some compound formulations.
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtx/pr/compound-ingredient-supplier-fagron-holding-usa-llc-pay-2205-million-resolve
Bellevue, Washington, lab and three executives indicted in kickback scheme
Co-Founder of Vancouver, Washington, lab pleads guilty to conspiracy to pay kickbacks involving federal healthcare programsSeattle – One defendant has pleaded guilty, and three others and a physician- owned testing lab have been indicted following the investigation of kickbacks in connection with laboratory testing services. The grand jury returned indictments on November 6, 2019, against JAE LEE, 48, of Bellevue, RICHARD REID, 50, of Astoria, Oregon, KEVIN PULS, 54, of Bellevue, and Northwest Physicians Laboratory of Bellevue, Washington. Both the company and the individual defendants are scheduled to make their first appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle on December 5, 2019.
Northwest Physicians Laboratory (NWPL) and its relationship to Molecular Testing Labs (MTL) of Vancouver, Washington, are described in the plea agreement of STEVEN P. VERSCHOOR, 52, of Boise, Idaho, a co-founder of MTL. VERSCHOOR pleaded guilty on October 30, 2019, admitting that he paid kickbacks to NWPL for referring urine tests to be performed at MTL. According to the plea statements, starting in 2014, MTL agreed to pay NWPL as much as $100,000 per month to send patient urine tests to the Vancouver lab. NWPL is physician-owned, and for that reason could not test urine samples for patients covered by government health programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. In order to conceal the payment of the kickbacks, MTL and NWPL described the fees as being for marketing services; however, VERSCHOOR was not aware of any marketing services being performed. In all, MTL paid NWPL $450,000. In exchange, MTL was able to bill the government more than $2,000,000 for urine testing services.
In December 2018, MTL agreed to pay $1,777,738 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying illegal kickbacks to obtain referrals for government healthcare insurance programs. According to the settlement, between August 2014 and July 2015, the government claimed that MTL made payments to local laboratories in exchange for referrals of Medicare and TRICARE program business, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. Paying remuneration to medical providers or provider-owned laboratories in exchange for referrals encourages providers to order medically unnecessary services. The False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute function, in part, to discourage such behavior.
The indictment charges NWPL and the three executives with conspiracy to both solicit kickbacks and pay kickbacks. The indictment charges four additional counts of receipt of kickbacks.
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/bellevue-washington-lab-and-three-executives-indicted-kickback-scheme
Delhi Farmer Sentenced for Lying to Various Business and Government Entities to Steal Nearly $18 Mil
Delhi Farmer Sentenced for Lying to Various Business and Government Entities to Steal Nearly $18 MillionMONROE, La. – A Delhi, Louisiana, farmer was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, for lying to more than seven financial institutions, insurance providers and government entities in an effort to obtain over $18 million illegally, announced United States Attorney David C. Joseph.
U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty also ordered Thomas A. Dickerson to pay $18,048,304.71 in restitution to the victims for the money he stole during the course of the scheme. Dickerson pled guilty on July 15, 2019.
According to court documents and information provided to the court, Dickerson was a Franklin Parish Louisiana farmer who, during the 2015 crop year, used at least 13 farming entities he was either a part of or was the sole owner of to certify farming acreage in Catahoula, Franklin, Tensas, Richland, Madison and Morehouse parishes in Louisiana, as well as Ashley, Chicot and Drew Counties in Arkansas. He applied for crop production and grain storage loans from AG Resource Management, farm operating loans from various FDIC insured banking entities, credit from seed and chemical dealers such as Greenpoint AG, LLC and Jimmy Sanders Seed, advances on contracts with Kennedy Rice Dryers, insurance policies and claims from Producers Agriculture Insurance Company and CGB Insurance Company, and several marketing assistance loans from the Commodity Credit Corporation. Dickerson lied on many of these applications in order to obtain loans and other compensation by overstating or understating the amount of crops produced or claiming crops as collateral when he’d already sold the crops or didn’t possess them.
“The sentence imposed today should serve as a warning to those who engage in fraudulent practices and schemes,” U.S. Attorney Joseph stated. “Mr. Dickerson’s conduct in this case caused significant financial loss to victims throughout northeast Louisiana. This type of behavior will not be tolerated in the Western District of Louisiana.”
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdla/pr/delhi-farmer-sentenced-lying-various-business-and-government-entities-steal-nearly-18
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Trump Hates the Washington Post
Texas officials take over Snyder ISD and Shepherd ISD
The same law also led Morath to inform two small, rural school districts Wednesday — Shepherd ISD, in East Texas, and Snyder ISD, in West Texas — that he would replace their elected school boards with appointed boards. Snyder Junior High and Shepherd’s elementary and intermediate schools received their fifth consecutive failing ratings this year.
The districts will also be assigned state conservators, who will attend all board meetings, oversee district operations and submit monthly progress reports to the state. Houston ISD has had a state-appointed conservator since 2016, initially appointed to oversee another long-failing school.
Boards of managers in those three school districts will be composed of local community members, who can send in applications to the state starting immediately. State officials will conduct interviews and train applicants, before presenting a list of finalists to Morath for final approval.
During its temporary replacement of the elected board, a board of managers has all the same powers and duties to oversee the school district. Once the state determines it has fixed the specific problems it is charged with, Morath will gradually transfer power back to the elected board.
Read the complete article: https://www.reporternews.com/story/news/education/2019/11/07/texas-officials-take-over-snyder-isd-two-other-state-districts/2517208001/
(Abilene Reporter-News)
Federal appeals court upholds ruling against Arkansas anti-begging law
LITTLE ROCK — A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's ruling against an Arkansas anti-loitering law that opponents say unfairly targets panhandlers.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a federal judge's preliminary injunction against the 2017 law, which expands the definition of loitering to include anyone asking for charity or a gift in a harassing or threatening manner that's likely to cause others alarm or create a traffic hazard. A federal judge in 2017 called the measure "plainly unconstitutional."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas sued the state over the ban on behalf of two panhandlers. The state had argued the measure still allowed begging in many forms.
The 2017 measure was enacted after a federal judge struck a previous begging ban in the state's loitering law.
Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2019/nov/07/federal-appeals-court-upholds-ruling-against-arkansas-anti-begging-law/803052/
Little Rock teachers hold 'walk-ins' as status of strike remains unclear
LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock teachers have given few clues on whether they'll strike because of Arkansas' decision to no longer recognize their union, but they're staging other demonstrations aimed at drawing attention to the end of their collective bargaining rights and the state's ongoing control of the local school district.
Teachers, parents, students and other community members held "walk-ins" around the 23,000-student district on Wednesday, entering school buildings together before classes started to show their support for the union. The move follows other demonstrations that have included a sick-out organized by students last week and some teachers participating in a "work to rule" action where they don't work extra hours. The Little Rock Education Association's contract with the district expired on Thursday following the state Board of Education's decision to no longer recognize the union as the district's sole bargaining agent.
"We feel that this is a symbolic statement that if we can all walk in together, we can all walk out together," Teresa Knapp Gordon, president of the 1,800-member association, said. Gordon said the union hasn't ruled out a strike and has other actions planned.
Tensions have been high since the state Board of Education's vote against the union last month. Arkansas has run the district since January 2015, when it was taken over because of low test schools at several schools. The state board voted to return the district to a local school board that will be elected in November 2020, but with the state maintaining some control. Aside from a return of collective bargaining rights, the union is also calling for an immediate return to full local control.
Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2019/nov/07/little-rock-teachers-hold-walk-ins-status-strike-remains-unclear/803063/
Alyssa Milano tours migrant respite center with Rep. Gonzalez
McALLEN — For years, actress Alyssa Milano has advocated publicly for human rights, gun safety and progressive climate change initiatives, all of which have inspired support from many Democrats and mocking from some Republicans across the country.
On Wednesday, she received an intimate look at an issue she has spoken about often: immigration. In town filming a movie, Milano was invited by U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen to tour the Catholic Charities migrant respite center in downtown McAllen.
“Because we were shooting in this border town, I thought it was important to get to know the district and understand the different things that go on here,” Milano said after touring the facility near the downtown bus station. “To see what Catholic Charities has been able to accomplish, to be able to go in there and play with the children and families looking for a better life — it’s been a really special morning.”
The number of asylum seeking immigrants that federal authorities drop off downtown has dwindled in recent months due mostly to the Trump administration’s policy of making migrants wait in Mexican border towns for their asylum court hearings, most of which have been conducted via video conference where the immigration judges appear on a television screen. Some days in recent weeks, the respite center has received less than 10 migrants, a far cry from the hundreds of migrants arriving daily early this year and in previous years.
Read more: https://www.themonitor.com/2019/11/06/alyssa-milano-tours-migrant-respite-center-rep-gonzalez/
(McAllen Monitor)
Longview doctor's 'birth tourism' business draws eye of Homeland Security
In a group of photos posted on Facebook in August 2018, Longview’s Dr. Yasser Zeid posed with a handful of busy babies.
The children had all been placed on a large, wooden table, with mothers and fathers standing close — some of them holding babies upright if they were too young to sit by themselves and others with hands out as toddlers moved and tried to walk on the table. Zeid, an obstetrician/gynecologist who owns Zeid Women’s Health Center in Longview, was in the background.
The photo is in a collection titled “A Gathering in Egypt” found on the Zeid Women’s Health Center International Group Facebook page.
“Getting to see the babies born with us at Zeid WHC as they grow is one of our greatest blessings. We love visiting with the families and seeing their babies play together,” a description with the photo album says.
Read more: https://www.news-journal.com/news/local/longview-doctor-s-birth-tourism-business-draws-eye-of-homeland/article_4a05ffca-fbe5-11e9-a132-9b6ca3df3245.html
(Longview News-Journal)
"I wasn't raised to be silent": U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela is willing to tussle with colleagues from
"I wasn't raised to be silent": U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela is willing to tussle with colleagues from both partiesby J. Edward Moreno, Texas Tribune
WASHINGTON — Many members of Congress disagree with the president’s approach to border security. Only one, however, has told him to “take your border wall and shove it up your ass.”
That came from a 2016 letter from U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, a Brownsville Democrat, when Donald Trump was still running for president. At the time, Vela was known as a mild-mannered, perhaps even centrist, representative. As much of Washington has come to realize since, Vela knows how to make a scene.
Since then, he has made news for firing verbal bullets toward both sides of the isle. In September, he called a Republican colleague "a racist Christian pretender who led the effort to starve America's poor." Two months earlier, he called for the firing of the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, saying the organization was in "complete chaos."
To him, each statement has been completely warranted. Quiet voices don't often get heard in Congress, especially not now.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/11/07/filemon-vela-democrat-brownsville-makes-his-voice-heard-congress/
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