A healthcare whistleblower case has reached a $4 million settlement over accusations of fraudulent billing practices.

Dr. James Norman faced charges of violating the False Claims Act because he allegedly submitted fraudulent claims from April 2008 through December 2016 to agencies including Medicare, Tricare and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

Dr. Norman owns the Norman Parathyroid Center in Tampa, Fla. where the federal government says Norman submitted false claims for pre-operative exams supposedly done the day before or the day of a surgery.

Norman also allegedly billed and collected payments from patients for services even after he had received payment for those services from government programs. He reportedly pocketed extra fees of anywhere from $150 to $750 from Florida residents and $1,750 and up from patients who lived in other states.

Over the course of eight years, the government alleges, Norman and his office raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars through illegal billing tactics.

“Fraudulent billing of the government, while also charging Medicare and other federal health care beneficiaries extra fees for services that the government has already paid for victimizes taxpayers, military veterans, the elderly, and other members of our community, and will not be tolerated,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Muldrow. “This lawsuit and today’s settlement demonstrates our office’s ongoing efforts to safeguard federal health care program beneficiaries from the effects of such illegal conduct.”

Norman also has signed an integrity agreement with the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He admitted no liability in the settlement of healthcare whistleblower case.

Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of HHS-OIG said, “Physicians who systematically overbill federal health care programs and their vulnerable patients will be held responsible for this fraudulent behavior. Those who engage in such schemes can expect a thorough investigation and strong remedial measures such as those in the Integrity Agreement we signed with Dr. Norman.”

Healthcare Whistleblower Case to Reward Couple

A former patient of Dr. Norman filed the original lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Myra Gross and her husband, Dr. David Gross, filed under the qui tam (whistleblower) provisions of the False Claims Act, which allows private individuals to file a lawsuit on behalf of the federal government for false claims.

When private citizens file such a suit, the federal government has the option of intervening in the case, which it did in this instance. The couple will receive approximately $600,000 of the settlement money for their part in the healthcare whistleblower case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tuite handled the settlement, which was coordinated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florid and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General.

The Healthcare Whistleblower Case is United States ex rel. Gross, et al. v. James Norman, MD, PA, et al., Case No. 8:14-cv-978-T-33EAJ, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.