George Breen, Chair of the firm's National Health Care and Life Sciences Practice Steering Committee, in the Washington, DC, office, was quoted by O&P Almanac in “Business Sessions, Big Insights.” Mr. Breen participated as a panelist at the 2014 AOPA National Assembly, providing insight for businesses on how to protect - and provide a successful defense against - fraud investigations. His session was titled “Health Care Fraud Enforcement from the Trenches: How to Protect Yourself and Your Business.”
Following is an excerpt:
... O&P Practitioners and facility owners are facing other risks, one of which ... is healthcare fraud. Breen, who specializes in the defense of health-care providers, manufacturers and suppliers in False Claims Act cases and investigations, sees the far-reaching threats of these investigations and proceedings on the future of O&P. The results of such cases can lead not only to tremendous financial damages - enough to destroy even a very strong business - but also potential exclusion of that business from participation in federal health-care programs. “The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has the ability to pursue an action against an individual or business to be excluded due to violations of this statute,” says Breen. For many, these instances become a case of personal survival more than anything else. "The reality is that regardless of the size of the company, the government is interested in what you're doing and how you're doing it. ... The only way you can defend yourself is to fight back."
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Board of Directors / Member of the Firm