Life Care Centers of America, Inc. (LCCA), the operator of a skilled nursing facility located in Lawrenceville, Georgia known as Life Care Center of Lawrenceville (Lawrenceville), along with Gwinnett Operations, a TN LLC, successor to Gwinnett Medical Investors Limited Partnership (GO), Developers Investment Company, Inc. (DIC) and Forrest L. Preston, the owners of Lawrenceville, agreed to pay $2.5 million to resolve multiple allegations that Lawrenceville had violated the federal False Claims Act by billing for services that either were not provided or were worthless to the Lawrenceville residents.
In November 2002, five whistleblowers, who were family members of Lawrenceville residents, filed a qui tam suit. They alleged a systemic failure in the care rendered to residents at Lawrenceville. Lawrenceville had failed to provide appropriate nursing care, resulting in the premature deaths of several residents, according to the allegations. “The whistleblowers' complaint alleged that the failure of care was the result of severe understaffing, inadequate staff training, high staff turnover, an ineffective medical director, poor nursing documentation, and insufficient budgetary allowances.” http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan/press/2005/12-22-2005.html
The United States and the State of Georgia have agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in exchange for a total payment of $2.5 million, with the United States receiving $1,092,000 for damages sustained by the Medicare program and $604,800 for the federal share of the damages sustained by the Medicaid program. The State of Georgia received $403,200 for the damages sustained by the State of Georgia in connection with its funding of the Medicaid program.
Three of the whistleblowers remained parties to the suit at the conclusion of the case, and they received a total of $400,000.
LCCA and Lawrenceville also agreed to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA), requiring Lawrenceville to continue to implement certain policies and procedures to ensure compliance with applicable statutes and regulations governing patient care. The Agreement also provided for the appointment of an independent monitor who will oversee operations at Lawrenceville for up to five years to verify that its policies and procedures are working effectively and that patients receive appropriate care. LCCA also voluntarily agreed to apply the policies and procedures implemented for Lawrenceville to LCCA's other facilities across the country.
Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, said that the settlement was " the largest recovery against a single skilled nursing facility under the False Claims Act based on a failure of care case to date." http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan/press/2005/12-22-2005.html
United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, "This case demonstrates that the government will not tolerate a nursing home's failure to provide adequate care to the elderly, our most vulnerable citizens; and that the government will continue to ensure that public funds expended on behalf of nursing home residents are used appropriately to provide them with adequate care and services. While we always expect to recover the public funds improperly expended, in these nursing home cases, our primary goal is to ensure good patient care. Life Care's willingness to voluntarily apply the policies and procedures implemented at Lawrenceville to its other facilities helps further this goal." http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan/press/2005/12-22-2005.html
Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker said, "Today's settlement reaffirms the commitment of both the State of Georgia and the federal government to pursue allegations of improper care provided to Georgia's elder citizens. In failing to provide sufficient care for these nursing facility residents, Life Care placed at risk the very residents who had been entrusted to its care. This settlement sends a clear message that taking shortcuts to improve the financial bottom line in the medical arena will have legal consequences." http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan/press/2005/12-22-2005.html
