Feds sue Hospice of the Comforter for Medicare fraud [Orlando Sentinel]
By Kate Santich, Orlando Sentinel | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The facility could face millions of dollars in fines and damages as a result.
The suit, filed late last week by the
In another case, when a nurse noted that a patient's current condition would not qualify for hospice care, the diagnosis was suddenly changed to rectal cancer, the suit says, though there was no evidence the patient had cancer at any point during her 287-day stay in hospice.
At charges averaging more than
The suit specifically alleges that longtime hospice CEO
Latour "LT" Lafferty, a
"What I can tell you is that Bob [
Federal tax records show that Wilson made large bonuses based on how many patients were under hospice care each day.
Tax returns filed with the
The latest allegations echo charges first made in
When that effort failed, former vice president of finance
"I am pleased that after a more than yearlong investigation the
Wilson, who co-founded the hospice in 1990 and helped establish its well-regarded reputation in the community, referred a request for his comments to Lafferty. The attorney said Wilson is no longer CEO at
Although patients can and often do stay under hospice care for longer than the six-month guideline, a physician must periodically recertify the patient as terminally ill.
But at
Wilson also had a list of patients -- whom nurses referred to in notes as FOBs, or "friends of Bob" -- who were not to be discharged regardless of what reviewers found, the suit says.
The total amount of actual damages, the government said, would have to be determined at trial, but the law allows the court to fine hospice as much as triple that amount.
Since May,
Spokeswoman
[email protected] or 407-420-5503
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