The Department of Justice recovered more than $2 billion from settlements and judgments in healthcare fraud cases for the 10th consecutive year in fiscal year 2019.
In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the Justice Department obtained more than $3 billion from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government. The bulk of those recoveries — $2.6 billion — came from healthcare fraud cases.
Two of the largest recoveries in fiscal 2019 came from opioid manufacturers Insys Therapeutics and Reckitt Benckiser Group. Insys paid $195 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to physicians and nurse practitioners to prescribe Subsys, an addictive painkiller. RB Group paid $1.4 billion to resolve criminal and civil allegations related to the marketing of Suboxone, a formulation of the opioid buprenorphine.
The Justice Department also pursued many cases involving drug manufacturers and healthcare providers in fiscal 2019. In some cases, the Justice Department obtained recoveries from companies and their executives. One notable case in the healthcare industry involved a settlement with Vanguard Health, a Brentwood, Tenn.-based nursing home chain, and the company's CEO and director of operations.
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