California

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October 30, 2014
San Francisco - Dignity Health Agrees to Pay $37 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations
Dignity Health has agreed to pay the United States $37 million to settle allegations that 13 of its hospitals in California, Nevada and Arizona knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare and TRICARE by admitting patients who could have been treated on a less costly, outpatient basis, the Justice Department announced today. Dignity, formerly known as Catholic Healthcare West, is based in San Francisco and is one of the five largest hospital systems in the nation with 39 hospitals in three states.

April 14, 2014
California - S.F. Valley Woman Who Orchestrated Health Care Fraud Scheme that Submitted Nearly $25 Million in Bogus Bills Sentenced to over 7 Years
A North Hollywood woman who worked in the health care industry was sentenced this afternoon to 76 months in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme that submitted nearly $25 million in fraudulent bills to Medicare for services and supplies that were medically unnecessary and sometimes were never provided. Susanna Artsruni, 46, who formerly owned a durable medical equipment (DME) company and worked at a number of medical clinics in Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Margaret M. Morrow.

February 18, 2014
California - Three Found Guilty for Roles in $20 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme Involving Bogus Prescriptions for Expensive Anti-Psychotic Drugs
Three people linked to a Glendale medical clinic - including a doctor who took money to let his name be used thousands times on bogus prescriptions - were found guilty today of federal fraud charges related to a $20 million scheme to defraud Medicare and Medi-Cal by, among other things, fraudulently prescribing expensive anti-psychotic medications and then re-billing the government for those drugs over and over.

January 13, 2014
California - San Fernando Valley Woman Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges in $25 Million Health Care Fraud Case
Los Angeles-A North Hollywood woman who worked in the health care industry pleaded guilty today to federal charges for orchestrating a scheme that submitted nearly $25 million in fraudulent bills to Medicare for services and supplies, including power wheelchairs and diagnostic tests that were medically unnecessary and sometimes were never provided.

January 9, 2014
California - CareFusion to Pay the Government $40.1 Million to Resolve Allegations That Include More Than $11 Million in Kickbacks to One Doctor
CareFusion Corp. has agreed to pay the government $40.1 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks and promoting its products for uses that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the Justice Department announced today. CareFusion, a California-based medical technology company, develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical products, including products sold under the trade name ChloraPrep.

January 9, 2014
California - Southern California Doctor Sentenced to over 3 Years in Prison for Medicare Fraud Scheme
Sacramento, Calif. - Dr. Emilio Louis Cruz III, 61, of Carson, Calif., was sentenced today by United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to three years and two months in prison and ordered to pay $601,581 in restitution for his role in a conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.