Big companies bury themselves with lawyers to defend and justify their conduct, so if you’re in the midst of a fraudulent scheme that the company is committing, you should speak with a whistleblower lawyer to understand your rights and make sure that you don’t become the fall person for the fraud.
There are various statutes that protect whistleblowers and are the vaccine to deal with the abusive employer but only if navigated properly. Companies often have internal reporting mechanism for disclosing internal fraud, but those lines are traps for the unwary and designed to take down the individual who may unfortunately call them.
In recent years, Medicare Fraud and Medicaid Fraud have become rampant with companies morally justifying their fleecing of the taxpayer by their frustration in dealing with red tape and bureaucracy. Or sometimes it’s just greed. But if they have lawyers enabling the conduct, helping them with the cover up and blaming those that try to address it, you should have a whistleblower law firm in your corner advising you of what the best route to address the situation.
In cases of Medicare overbilling or billing for services not rendered or upcoding or pharmaceutical fraud, it is not only the government that suffers a loss, but also the people who are covered by these insurance policies in the end, and, of course, the taxpayers.
Fortunately, when someone witnesses Medicaid Fraud or Medicare Fraud or Defense Contractor Fraud of a whole host of other violations they can come forward and become a whistleblower, allowing them to initiate a lawsuit against the health care provider and to rectify the damage that was caused by their actions. Understanding why a qui tam attorney should be contacted and the role such an attorney plays in a whistleblower case can make a person feel more confident in deciding to blow the whistle.
The Role of The Qui Tam Attorney
When a person recognizes fraud in their workplace, they have one of two options – they can either choose to ignore the actions that they noticed and thereby become complicit in the fraud, or they can decide to take notice and to do something about it. This is where whistleblower cases and the False Claims Act (FCA) comes into play.
The False Claims Act was designed to ensure employees can come forward with information that could lead to an investigation regarding fraud in the healthcare industry, as well as other industries, in cases where such fraud has a negative impact on the U.S. government. If the case turns out to be successful, the whistleblower is in turn rewarded for being brave enough to step forward with the initial information. With billions recovered each year, a successful whistleblower award could be as high as 30% which could be a whistleblower award in the millions for the right qui tam case.
A quality qui tam attorney will be focused in dealing with both whistleblowers and the underlying fact patterns. The attorney will be able to analyze a case thoroughly and provide details in regards to whether a whistleblower case can be filed, or not; thus posing no unnecessary risks to the whistleblower if its highly unlikely to succeed. When a case can be filed, the qui tam attorney will shepherd the employee who comes forward with the information through the entire process and set up a case file that would try to maximize the chance of a successful lawsuit.
Conclusion
Employees frequently discover fraud in their place of employment, especially in the healthcare industry, but they are often not sure who to turn to or what would happen to them if they decided to become a whistleblower. Fortunately, by contacting a whistleblower lawyer Rochester, NY relies on the case can be dealt with professionally, and the whistleblower can often be effectively protected against retaliation.
Thank you to our friends and contributors at Brown, LLC for their insight into whistleblowers Qui Tam attorneys.