TELG Attorney Quoted in Crain’s Detroit Business Article Predicting Rapid Expansion of Whistleblower Claims

On October 14, 2011, Crain’s Detroit Business published an article titled “Are there enough private crimes in Michigan to warrant beefing up the state’s false claims act?” in which The Employment Law Group® law firm attorney R. Scott Oswald states:

Having whistleblowers in government and the health care sector will ensure that individuals and corporations engaged in fraudulent acts (will think twice about committing crimes).  It will serve as a deterrent….

Recently, whistleblower and SEC attorney Darcy Flynn revealed that the SEC was shredding documents relating to corporations under investigation, including thousands of inquiries into the $50 billion Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers.  Before blowing the whistle at the SEC, Flynn blew the whistle on health care fraud:

Flynn also was the whistleblower in the 1995 Medicare fraud case against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The Blues settled with the federal government and paid a $27.6 million fine.

Over the next decade, Oswald believes false claims act complaints will go up by a factor of 100.

“There has been an explosion in government contracting. A huge amount of work is being outsourced,” Oswald said.

“Another reason is the expansion of health care services with the health care reform bill. As more people become covered by insurance and prescribed medications there will be more opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to engage in unlawful activities.”

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