Dive Brief:
- Three former managers of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a lawsuit in South Florida last week claiming that the nation's largest supplier of HIV and AIDS care paid kickbacks to employees and patients for referrals in order to boost federal payments.
- According to the suit, the company paid $100 bonuses for referring patients with positive results to its clinics and pharmacies, beginning in 2010. The scam allegedly began in the company's California headquarters but ultimately spanned 12 states.
- The company, which cares for 400,000 patients in 36 countries, denies any wrongdoing. "The federal government and state of Florida had a chance to deal with this case ... and they declined to get involved which I think speaks volumes to the merits of the claim," AHF general counsel Tom Myers told CBS News.
Dive Insight:
According to the complaint, AHF president Michael Weinstein explicitly directed staff at a 2013 leadership summit to implement the incentive program throughout the organization. The former managers who filed the whistleblower complaint, Jack Carrel, Mauricio Ferrer and Shawn Loftis, were fired after notifying their supervisors of the alleged wrongdoing. Their attorneys say they were protected under the False Claims Act.