Catholic Health System, Inc. has entered a $3.5 million settlement with the federal government and the State of New York in a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by a whistleblower represented by Reese Marketos.
On behalf of relator Gary Tucker, the firm filed a qui tam lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York in October 2020. Tucker was the chief executive officer of Mount St. Mary’s Hospital, which Catholic Health acquired in 2015.
In his lawsuit, Tucker alleged Catholic Health caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid in violation of the Stark Law, which prohibits healthcare entities from obtaining government reimbursement for healthcare services referred by physicians who have a financial relationship in the healthcare entity.
Tucker’s legal team worked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, which intervened in the case last month for settlement purposes.
The settlement is the latest in a series of relator-side False Claims Act victories for the attorneys at Reese Marketos, who have racked up FCA results in the last year totaling more than $1.7 billion.
The RM team representing Tucker included Josh Russ, Brett Rosenthal, and Allison Cook.