Middlebury firm to pay $600K ‘whistleblower’ claim
A Middlebury medical-products supplier will pay Connecticut $600,000 to settle claims its preventative services for patients with sleep apnea were performed by unlicensed staffers, federal authorities say.
Of the settlement sum J & L Medical Services LLC agreed to pay, $102,000 will go to the whistleblower who flagged federal investigators to J & L’s alleged abuses, the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
According to state and federal investigators, J & L provides machines and accessories used to treat Medicare and Medicaid sufferers with obstructive sleep apnea.
But J & L, from Jan. 1, 2008 through May 15, 2013, used unlicensed respiratory-therapy technicians for its services, including fitting patients with masks used with the machines and educating patients how to use them, in violation of state law, authorities said.
As part of the settlement, J & L agreed to set up a compliance program to prevent and/or detect fraud, waste and abuse in future Medicaid claims the company submits.
John Hart, a former J & L employee and licensed respiratory therapist, will get $102,000 for alerting authorities to the abuses, prosecutors said.
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