HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Cory Fein Law Firm announces a settlement, unsealed in October 2024, resulting from a False Claims Act qui tam case it filed on behalf of its whistleblower client, a former employee of an optometrist practice. The suit alleged that the defendants billed for optometry services using the NPIs of optometrists who did not perform the services billed, including in situations where the provider rendering services was not credentialed or enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and/or TRICARE. The October 2024 settlement, in excess of $1 million, includes payment of a 20% relator’s share to the Cory Fein Law Firm’s client. The case is United States and Texas ex rel. M.S., v. Tony Jacob, et al., No. 1:21-cv-01111, W.D.Tex., and the settlement agreement is available by emailing cory@coryfeinlaw.com.
Cory Fein commends his client for providing the information that made the case possible and the W.D. Texas U.S. Attorney’s office (particularly T.J. Parnham) who worked on the case and obtained the settlement.
The settlement alleges that Tony Jacob operated a network of optometry practices in Texas and that he caused the submission of claims for payment to Government healthcare programs (including Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE), which falsely identified the persons who performed the services.
The Cory Fein Law Firm represents whistleblowers in qui tam cases (where the whistleblower seeks recovery on behalf of the Government and can be entitled to a relator’s share of the recovery) as well as retaliation cases where whistleblowers can recover damages suffered from retaliation caused by their protected whistleblowing activity.