by Ben Vernia | September 4th, 2014
On September 2, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced that the government had filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against two nursing homes and their managers for substandard care. According to the press release:
The United States filed a civil False Claims Act complaint on Friday against the owners, operators, and manager of two nursing homes in Watsonville, Calif., United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
Defendants CF Watsonville East, LLC, and CF Watsonville West, LLC, are for-profit entities that own and operate the nursing homes named in the complaint. Defendant ARBA Group owns CF Watsonville East and West, and exercised close oversight and control over the finances and operations of the nursing homes, and defendant Country Villa Health Service Corporation, dba Country Villa Health Services, was also responsible for the management of the nursing homes under consulting agreements with the owners.
The United States alleges that Defendants submitted false claims for materially substandard or worthless services provided to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries residing in the two nursing homes, Country Villa Watsonville East Nursing Center (renamed Watsonville Nursing Center in April 2014), and Country Villa Watsonville West Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (renamed Watsonville Post-Acute Center in April 2014). Specifically, the complaint alleges that between 2007 and 2012, defendants persistently and severely overmedicated elderly and vulnerable residents of the nursing homes.
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The case apparently arose from a government investigation, and not as a whistleblower, or qui tam, lawsuit.
