ATLANTA, Dec. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta- and New
York-based Moss & Gilmore LLP announced today the
settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and
State of Georgia of a False Claims
Act ("FCA") lawsuit against Defendants Jeffrey M. Gallups, M.D. ("Dr. Gallups"), Milton
Hall Surgical Associates, LLC ("MHSA") and Entellus Medical, Inc.
on behalf of its client, Dr. Myron
Jones, an ear, nose and throat doctor and a board certified
otolaryngologist. Dr. Jones is a former Army Colonel and Active
Duty U.S. Army Otolaryngologist who has been practicing medicine
for over thirty four years and who was employed by MHSA from
2015 to 2017.
Defendant Georgia-based Milton
Hall's ENT Institute website (http://www.entinstitute.com),
provides that "The Ear, Nose & Throat Institute provides
exceptional treatment and care for ear, nose and throat disorders
including balloon sinuplasty, allergy treatments, sleep apnea and
snoring treatment, hearing aids, voice therapy, tonsils and
adenoids. Milton Hall serves the
Atlanta, GA area with 13 locations
in Gainesville, Dawsonville, Cumming, Lawrenceville, Suwanee, Alpharetta, Marietta (East
Cobb), Buckhead
(Atlanta), Windy Hill (Atlanta), Stockbridge, Peachtree City, and White Oak (Newnan)
Georgia."
According to the Department of Justice website and Settlement
Agreement, MHSA and Dr. Gallops, while not acknowledging
wrongdoing, will pay to DOJ $3,068,434 ("Settlement Amount") to resolve
allegations in the lawsuit that it knowingly violated the FCA and
the Georgia False Medicaid Claims Act for, among other things, the
following:
First, between 2015 and 2017, Dr. Gallups caused MHSA and/or
MHSA's physician employees to order medically unnecessary genetic
and toxicology tests from Next Health, LLC ("Next Health") for
their patients and, in return for these referrals, Dr. Gallups was
paid illegal remuneration in the form of a percentage of the
revenues that Next Health received from Medicare, Medicaid and
TRICARE.
Second, between 2014 and 2018, Dr. Gallups caused MHSA and/or
MHSA's physician employees to order various products associated
with balloon sinuplasty surgery from Entellus Medical, Inc., which
was acquired by the Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) in 2018
(collectively "Entellus"), and Entellus offered and provided Dr.
Gallups and MHSA with various forms of illegal remuneration – which
included, but was not limited to, trips meals, and monetary
payments – in order to induce Dr. Gallups to order MHSA physicians
and employees to: (1) increase the number of sinuplasty surgeries
that they performed; and (2) perform medically unnecessary balloon
sinuplasty surgeries. In return for the illegal remuneration from
Entellus, Dr. Gallups insisted that MHSA employees and physicians
order various products from Entellus and instructed MHSA physicians
and employees to exclusively use Entellus products.
As part of the lawsuit, Entellus also agreed to settle these
allegations against itself, while also not acknowledging
wrongdoing, and to pay to DOJ $1,2000,000.
With respect to the allegations concerning Next Health, LLC, on
October 21, 2021, before the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Dr. Gallups
pleaded guilty to health care fraud in case number 1:21-cr-00370.
Dr. Gallup's sentencing in this criminal action is currently
scheduled for February 11, 2022.
In the event that Dr. Gallups and/or MHSA fails to pay the
entire Settlement Amount within twelve months of the execution of
the November 30, 2021 Settlement
Agreement, a Consent Judgment wherein Dr. Gallups and MHSA
acknowledge their joint and several liability and debt owed to DOJ
in the amount of $5,388,863, plus
post-judgment interest, will be enforced by DOJ.
DOJ's press release can be found
at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/dr-jeffrey-m-gallups-and-entellus-medical-agree-pay-42-million-resolve-false-claims-act.
The whistleblower physician, who was awarded 20% of all payments
to be received under each of the Settlement Agreements by DOJ, was
represented by Raymond L. Moss at
Moss & Gilmore LLP, who initially brought this FCA action on
behalf of the whistleblower, the U.S. Government and the
State of Georgia against the
Defendants in 2017.
"The whistleblower, Dr. Myron
Jones, a decorated former Army Colonel, bravely and
tenaciously brought what he believed to be very troubling practices
to light as described in his lawsuit in order to seek to protect
vulnerable patients and stop government fraud and abuse and illegal
kick-back arrangements, which undermine quality and affordable
healthcare", said Raymond Moss.
The case, brought in the United
States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia,
is captioned, United States ex
rel. Myron Jones, M.D., et al. v.
Milton Hall Surgical Associates, LLC d/b/a The ENT Institute and
a/k/a Ear, Nose & Throat Institute, Jeffrey M. Gallups, M.D., Entellus Medical, Inc.
et al., Civil Action. No. 1:17-cv-2472.
The Government investigation and settlement of these allegations
were handled and settled by the United
States Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Georgia
through Assistant United States Attorneys Paris Wynn and Georgia Assistant Attorney
General James Mooney in the Medicaid
Fraud Division. The Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS")
for the Inspector General also participated in the investigation.
The criminal case was handled and resolved by Assistant U.S.
Attorney Chris Huber.
The False Claims Act fosters a private-public partnership to
fight fraud against the government. The law encourages
whistleblowers to file civil lawsuits against companies that are
defrauding the government by offering job protection against
retaliation and a reward of 15 to 30 percent of the
government's civil recovery if the government joins or
intervenes in the case. Under the False Claims Act, the United States may recover three times the
number of losses, plus civil penalties.
About Moss & Gilmore
LLP: With offices in
Atlanta and New York, Moss &
Gilmore LLP represents whistleblowers in the U.S. and
worldwide in federal and state false claim whistleblower and
related retaliation cases involving healthcare fraud and military
procurement fraud. Moss & Gilmore LLP represents
whistleblowers in cases under the False Claims Act and claims under
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures
Trading Commission involving securities and commodities fraud and
IRS whistleblower reward programs. For more information,
visit www.mossgilmorelaw.com.
CONTACT
Raymond Moss
Moss & Gilmore
LLP
(678)
381-8601
rlmoss@mossgilmorelaw.com
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SOURCE Moss & Gilmore LLP