Lawsuit against Manhattan pharmacist for billing practices settled

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Defendant Ramesh Taduvai, a pharmacist has agreed to pay a total of $600,000 to settle charges of alleged fraudulent billing brought against him in New York. The settlement was approved Nov. 23, 2020, by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel, according to the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, along with other concerned officials, announced Nov. 24, 2020, that the United States has settled a civil healthcare fraud lawsuit against Taduvai, the former part-owner and Pharmacist-in-Charge of Manav II, Inc., d/b/a Good Health Pharmacy (“Good Health Pharmacy”) in Manhattan.

The settlement resolves claims that, from February 2013 through February 2014, Taduvai allegedly submitted false claims for payment to Medicare and Medicaid for prescriptions that Good Health Pharmacy never dispensed to patients, and received reimbursements to which the pharmacy was not entitled, in violation of the False Claims Act.

Taduvai, according to court papers, has been a licensed pharmacist since 1999 and was a 50% owner of Good Health Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy in New York, New York, from late 2005 until October 2014.

According to the press release, as part of the settlement, Taduvai “admits, acknowledges, and accepts responsibility” for the following conduct:

• At all times during the relevant time period,Taduvai was Good Health Pharmacy’s Pharmacist-in-Charge and was responsible for the pharmacy’s operations and the management of its staff.
• Good Health Pharmacy, under the management of Taduvai, as Pharmacist-in-Charge, submitted false claims for payment to Medicare and Medicaid for prescriptions that were never dispensed to patients and received reimbursements on these prescriptions to which it was not entitled.
• Taduvai issued checks, purportedly to independent pharmaceutical wholesalers, and claimed that these checks were proof that Good Health Pharmacy had ordered and paid for drugs for which the pharmacy billed CVS and federal healthcare programs, but the medications were not actually purchased and the checks were instead deposited into bank accounts controlled by Taduvai and others.