Under the federal False Claim Acts, whistleblowers who file suit on behalf of the federal government, showing that taxpayers are being ripped off, are entitled to a percentage of the money recovered. In a settlement announced this week, Olympus – a company that makes endoscopes used to examine the digestive tract - will pay $310 million to settle civil claims by the federal government. Mr. Slowik, a long time employee of the company who alerted the government to the corporate cheating and fraud, will receive $51 million — one of the largest whistleblower awards in history. The total settlement is the largest amount ever paid by a medical device company and the largest for violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, which covers medical purchases paid for by federal health care programs like Medicare. If you know of a company that is ripping off the federal government or any of its medical programs, let us know. We can help you. We are working on claims like these now.
