A Mississippi nursing home won a "patently and demonstrably frivolous" whistleblower lawsuit accusing the facility of improperly billing Medicaid and Medicare, Bloomberg Law reported March 29.
The lawsuit was filed by Mississippi attorney Cameron Jehl, who claimed GGNSC Southaven (Miss.) LLC, also known as Golden Living Center, knowingly employed a nursing director who did not have an active license and submitted 1,393 fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims. The lawsuit was filed in April 2019 and sought more than $30 million in damages.
The former director of nursing in question, Lionelle Trofort, worked at the 140-bed nursing home from April 23, 2013, to March 2, 2014. Ms. Trofort, a travel nurse, held a multistate nursing license issued by Virginia. On Feb. 28, 2013, her license was revoked by Virginia, but it was reinstated March 20, 2013, after she declared the state her permanent residence.
Mr. Jehl, who was pursuing an unrelated wrongful death case, discovered the revocation of Ms. Trofort's license and filed the lawsuit under the False Claims Act. The attorney later acknowledged to the court that he filed without checking whether Ms. Trofort's license had been reinstated.
The judge in the whistleblower case originally ruled in favor of Golden Living in March 2022. Mr. Jehl appealed the ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the original ruling in December. Mr. Jehl will be liable for attorneys' fees, which have not yet been determined.