Erlanger Health has filed a motion to dismiss two whistleblowers’ complaints — and sections of the U.S. Department of Justice’s claims — alleging that parts or all of the illegal kickback lawsuit do not contain enough factual information to be believable.
“This is a way that every big company that is accused of fraud tries to stop a case from going to trial, where the facts come out,” Marlan Wilbanks, an attorney representing the whistleblowers, said by phone.
The health system’s former chief compliance officer, Alana Sullivan, and former chief financial officer, Britt Tabor, filed a federal lawsuit against the health system in April 2021, which became public earlier this year.
Sullivan and Tabor alleged that Erlanger overpaid certain employees and private practice physicians, according to the complaint. Hospital leaders are accused of providing illegal incentives to encourage them to refer patients to the facility in a pay-for-play scheme.
The hospital then allegedly filed false insurance claims to Medicare and Medicaid based on the illegal self-referrals. Erlanger allegedly violated a federal physician rule referred to as the Stark Law and a federal anti-kickback statute referred to as AKS.