Federal Government Joins Medicare Lawsuit Against DME Supplier McKesson

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice;  Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 08 Oct 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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The federal government has joined a lawsuit against several companies alleging that they submitted false claims to Medicare, paid illegal kickbacks and established fake durable medical equipment suppliers, Dow Jones reports. The suit involves McKesson, one of the largest suppliers of medical equipment in the U.S.; GGNSC Holdings; Golden Gate Ancillary; and Ceres Strategies.

The Department of Justice alleges that McKesson -- through its subsidiary McKesson Medical-Surgical MediNet -- established and managed CSMS -- a purported DME supplier affiliated with the nursing facility Beverly Enterprises, now known as Golden Living -- and used CSMS to bill Medicare. Beverly allegedly kept millions of dollars in Medicare payments for DME already provided by McKesson in exchange for referring sales to the corporation.

James Larkin, director of corporate public relations at McKesson, said that the company has been cooperating with the lawsuit for several years and that the case is without merit (Shwiff, Dow Jones, 10/6).

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