Dr. John Natale, a 63-year-old vascular and thoracic surgeon, has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after his conviction for making false statements in his post-operative reports relating to the healthcare services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, according to the Chicago Tribune. He will also pay a fine of $40,000 and will perform community service during his post-release year of supervised release.
Surgeon Described in Post-Operative Reports Surgeries that He Did Not Perform
Dr. Natale’s specialty is repairing abdominal aortic aneurysms. However, in 2004, he falsified post-operative reports for at least two patients, inserting descriptions of aneurysm repairs that he did not perform. In addition, Dr. Natale made false statements claiming that the surgeries that he did perform were more complicated than they actually were.
Whistleblowers Have Role in Medicaid and Medicare Fraud Enforcement
If you know of ongoing Medicaid or Medicare fraud, you can help federal authorities by coming forward with that information. Because information from whistleblowers is so important, the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act authorize whistleblowers to file suit on behalf of the government and then to receive a portion of any money that is recovered in the lawsuit.
As a whistleblower, you should know your rights under the False Claims Act. Waters & Kraus has a team of highly skilled and experienced qui tam attorneys ready to assist you in this process. Contact us or call 800.226.9880 to talk to our whistleblower attorneys and learn more about our practice and how we can assist.
