July 3, 2012 N.C.

Whistleblower Lawsuit Prompts NextCare To Settle False Claims Act Case CHARLOTTE(BUSINESS WIRE) The Rabon Law Firm announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a settlement with Arizona-based NextCare, Inc. to resolve charges that NextCare submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal and state programs over a period of many years. NextCare, which operates more than 60 urgent care clinics in six states, including 11 clinic locations in North Carolina, was accused in a whistleblower lawsuit of submitting claims for thousands of medically unnecessary tests and procedures, primarily unnecessary allergy testing, H1N1 virus testing, and respiratory panel testing. After the federal government became involved in the lawsuit, it was further alleged that NextCare had for years been inflating its billings to government payors a practice known as upcoding. To resolve the allegations, NextCare will pay $10 million to the Federal Government and to the States of Arizona, Colorado, Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. The lawsuit, filed in December 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, was brought under the Federal False Claims Act by Lorin Cohen, a former NextCare employee who was terminated shortly before the filing. Under the False Claims Act, which dates to the Civil War and was originally known as Lincolns Law, private citizens with knowledge of fraud being perpetrated against the government may bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government and share in the recovery. Whistleblower lawsuits under the False Claims Act are often referred to as qui tam lawsuits, which makes reference a Latin phrase which means to bring a suit on behalf of the king, as well as oneself. Ms. Cohen was represented by Chet Rabon, of the Rabon Law Firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. Lorin Cohen is an exceptional woman, said Rabon. She did the right thing, even though it ultimately came at a great personal sacrifice. By filing this qui tam lawsuit, Lorin blew the whistle on conduct that was troubling, which included the clinics having standing orders to conduct allergy testing in situations that were not medically necessary. The amount of healthcare fraud in the United States is staggering and, across the country, reaches into the hundreds of millions of dollars each and every day. Brave whistleblowers like my client are essential to the success of anti-fraud programs like the False Claims Act, Rabon continued. Without the help of honest and brave citizens who are willing to step up and report healthcare fraud, everyone is harmed because we all have to pay much higher costs, and patient safety is put at risk.

The incentives in the law that reward whistleblowers are an effective tool to battle unlawful conduct. Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers receive between 15% and 30% of the monies the government recovers when these civil fraud cases are resolved by settlement or trial. Ms. Cohen will share an award of approximately $1.6 million with another whistleblower who filed a similar lawsuit more than a year after the Cohen suit. The NextCare settlement announced this week marks the first successful qui tam case brought by a whistleblower in the Western District of North Carolina in several years, and is one of few such cases ever successfully resolved in the federal courts in North Carolina. Cohens attorney, Chet Rabon, expresses thanks to Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Caldwell of the Western District of North Carolina, North Carolina Assistant State Attorney General Clark Walton, Justice Department Trial Attorney Jennifer Stalzer, and all the other attorneys, agents, investigators and federal and state personnel who helped in resolving this False Claims Act case. Citation for Rabon Law Firm case: United States ex rel. Granger v. NextCare, Inc. Case No. 3:09-CV-535-W (W.D.N.C.) About the Rabon Law Firm, PLLC The Rabon Law Firm is headed by attorney Chet Rabon, who has practiced law in Charlotte, NC, for more than 22 years. The Rabon Law Firm concentrates in whistleblower litigation under the Federal False Claims Act and companion state acts, and has several such cases currently in litigation in multiple districts. In addition, the Rabon Law Firm is involved in several catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases, and other complex civil litigation. CONTACT: Chet Rabon Rabon Law Firm, PLLC (704) 375-1800, ext. 102 CltAtty@gmail.com www.USFraudAttorneys.com