ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER SPEAKS ABOUT HEALTH CARE FRAUD

FROM DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Chicago Health Care Fraud Prevention Summit Chicago ~ Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Thank you, Dr. Budetti for those kind words – and for your outstanding leadership as Deputy Administrator for Program Integrity for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.   It’s a pleasure to be back in Chicago today – and a privilege to join with you and Pat Fitzgerald, the outstanding United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, as well as my good friend, Secretary Sebelius – in discussing the extraordinary progress we’ve made in preventing and combating health care fraud across this region – and in exploring strategies, and new technological tools, for taking our national efforts to a new level.

I’d particularly like to recognize each of the Administration leaders, law enforcement officials, investigators, prosecutors, industry representatives, and other critical partners who are with us today.   In so many ways, the people in this room are at the heart of our efforts to protect the American people from health care fraud – not just in the Chicago area, but in communities throughout the country.

Although you’re approaching this problem from many different perspectives, you have seen the devastating impact of health care fraud firsthand.   Many of you have called attention to the fact that modern schemes are as diverse as the imaginations of those who perpetrate them, and as sophisticated as technology will permit.   And there’s no question that – here in Illinois and across the nation – the challenges before us have reached crisis proportions.

Fortunately – as a result of your engagement, your expertise, and your unwavering commitment – we’ve made remarkable, measurable strides in implementing the solutions that we need – and that American consumers, patients, and taxpayers deserve.   We’re being innovative, proactive, and collaborative.   And, as a result, the last three years have been characterized by significant – and, in many cases, record – progress, particularly in our ability to analyze claims and other data in order to rapidly identify emerging fraud patterns.

How did we get here?   In large part, because – nearly three years ago – the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services came together in a new way, and made a collective commitment to meeting our shared goals and responsibilities.   This commitment inspired Secretary Sebelius and I to launch a landmark joint initiative – the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, known as “HEAT.”   Since then, Secretary Sebelius and I have traveled across the country – and held six other regional summits like this one – in order to ensure that this fight will remain a top priority for state and local officials, for federal investigators and prosecutors, and for our industry partners.

With each of these gatherings – as with today’s important Summit here in Chicago – we’re sending a powerful signal to all those who would threaten the strength and integrity of our health care system: that a new era of communication and cooperation has begun.   And that this Administration has never been more determined to move aggressively in protecting patients and consumers, bringing criminals to justice, and building on what’s already been achieved.

Since its inception, HEAT has helped to leverage the tremendous strength of federal, state, and local partnerships – and enhanced our ability to protect taxpayer dollars and the integrity of government programs that depend on those dollars.   It also has strengthened our ability to hold accountable those who have violated our laws in order to victimize the most vulnerable members of our society.   A driving force behind this work has been our Medicare Strike Forces, which focus attention and resources on major fraud “hot spots” across the country.

To date, Strike Force operations have charged more than 1,200 defendants for fraudulently billing the Medicare program for more than $3.7 billion.   Our agencies have expanded Medicare Strike Forces to nine locations – including, as of last February, Chicago.

This has enabled us to build substantial momentum.   And the results we’ve achieved have been nothing less than historic.

In fact, during the last fiscal year alone, civil and criminal health care fraud enforcement efforts by the Justice Department and HHS recovered nearly $4.1 billion in funds stolen or taken improperly from federal health care programs across the country.   This is an unprecedented accomplishment.   It represents the highest amount ever recovered in a single year.   And the landmark Affordable Care Act gave us additional critical resources, tools, and authorities to continue this important work.   Over the same period, we also opened thousands of new criminal and civil health care fraud investigations, dismantled criminal enterprises, thwarted large-scale fraud schemes, and secured more than 700 convictions.   Perhaps most notably, our investments in this work are yielding extraordinary returns: over the last three years, for every dollar we’ve spent fighting against health-care fraud, we’ve returned an average of seven dollars to the U.S. Treasury, the Medicare Trust Fund and others.

These numbers are stunning.   But – as you’ve seen right here in Chicago – they are only the beginning.

Last September – as part of a nationwide Medicare Strike Force takedown – four Chicago residents – including one doctor – were charged for their roles in a variety of alleged schemes defrauding the Medicare program of more than $4 million.   In all, a total of 91 defendants were charged for submitting more than $295 million in false billings – marking the highest amount of false Medicare billings for a single operation in the Strike Force’s history.

In February, a judgment of over $16 million was entered in a civil lawsuit filed by the United States against a healthcare clinic.   The clinic was charged for illegally administering prescriptions and for allowing unlicensed and unqualified practitioners to treat patients for mental health issues.   In a separate case, last month, 11 new defendants were added to a federal indictment against an individual who operated two home health care businesses in Chicago.  The new defendants allegedly conspired to swindle Medicare of at least $20 million over a five year period.   And a little over two weeks ago, the Department of Justice reached an $18.5 million settlement with a Chicago-area firm charged with improperly billing Medicare for ambulatory cardiac telemetry services.

Thanks largely to the remarkable efforts of U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald and his team, as well as the Justice Department’s Criminal and Civil Divisions, the HHS Office of the Inspector General, and other key federal, state, and local law enforcement partners – since HEAT expanded to Chicago in February 2011, we’ve charged a total of 37 defendants in 15 separate criminal cases related to health care fraud right here in the Northern District of Illinois.   They’ve set an excellent example – and, in the fight against health care fraud, are providing a model for success.

These cases, and countless other local civil and criminal enforcement actions, are emblematic of our nationwide achievements.  They prove that our collaborative efforts are working.  And they reinforce the importance of engagement, the value of public-private partnerships, and the critical nature of conversations like the one we’re hosting today – focused on harnessing the power of science and technology to make our efforts both more efficient and more effective.

Of course, despite everything we’ve achieved in recent years, we cannot yet be satisfied.   And we can’t afford to become complacent.   We have a great deal of work before us – and many more challenges and obstacles to confront.   But, with your continued dedication, leadership, and partnership, I believe that the successes you’ve already helped bring about here in Chicago and beyond are just the beginning.   In the work of protecting the American people from health care fraud, I am proud to count you as colleagues – and as partners.   I am honored to stand with you today.   And I look forward to all that we can – and will – accomplish together in the days ahead.

At this time, it’s my privilege to introduce another key leader of these efforts – my good friend, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL STATEMENT ON SYRIA

FROM DEPARTMENT OF STATE
UN Security Council Presidential Statement on Syria
New York, NY
April 5, 2012
The Security Council recalls its Presidential Statements of 3 August 2011 and 21 March 2012 and its Press Statement of 1 March 2012.
The Security Council reaffirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria, and to the purposes and principles of the Charter.

The Security Council expresses its appreciation for the 2 April 2012 briefing of the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan. The Security Council notes that the Syrian government committed on 25 March 2012 to implement the Envoy’s six-point proposal.

The Security Council calls upon the Syrian government to implement urgently and visibly its commitments, as it agreed to do in its communication to the Envoy of 1 April, to (a) cease troop movements towards population centres, (b) cease all use of heavy weapons in such centres, and (c) begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centres, and to fulfil these in their entirety by no later than 10 April 2012.

The Security Council calls upon all parties, including the opposition, to cease armed violence in all its forms within 48 hours of the implementation in their entirety by the Syrian government of measures (a), (b), (c) above. The Security Council further calls upon the opposition to engage with the Envoy in this regard.

The Security Council reiterates its call for the Syrian authorities to allow immediate, full and unimpeded access of humanitarian personnel to all populations in need of assistance, in accordance with international law and guiding principles of humanitarian assistance. The Security Council calls upon all parties in Syria, in particular the Syrian authorities, to cooperate fully with the United Nations and relevant humanitarian organizations to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance. To this end, the Security Council calls on all parties to immediately implement a daily two hour humanitarian pause as called for in the Envoy’s six-point proposal.

The Security Council underscores the importance of an effective and credible United Nations supervision mechanism in Syria to monitor a cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties and relevant aspects of the Envoy’s six-point proposal. The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to provide proposals for such a mechanism as soon as appropriate, after consultations with the government of Syria. The Security Council stands ready to consider these proposals and to authorise an effective and impartial supervision mechanism upon implementation of a cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties.

The Security Council underscores the central importance of a peaceful political settlement to the Syrian crisis and reiterates its call for the urgent, comprehensive, and immediate implementation of all aspects of the Envoy’s six-point proposal. The Security Council reiterates its full support for the Envoy’s six-point proposal aimed at bringing an immediate end to all violence and human rights violations, securing humanitarian access and facilitating a Syrian-led political transition leading to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens are equal regardless of their affiliations, ethnicities or beliefs, including through commencing a comprehensive political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition.

The Security Council requests the Envoy to update the Council on the cessation of violence in accordance with the above timeline, and progress towards implementation of his six-point proposal in its entirety. In the light of these reports, the Security Council will consider further steps as appropriate.

HORSES AND PTSD RECOVERY PROGRAM

FROM AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Horse Therapy Helps Veterans Break Through PTSD

By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2012 - A Pentagon Channel documentary sheds light on how military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are finding help through the power of horse therapy.

"Recon: Unbridled" highlights "Horses for Veterans," at Flag is Up Farms in California, an intensive three-day program designed to help veterans of all ages who have PTSD, free of charge.

"I think No. 1 is to work with veterans who have given up on life," said Monty Roberts, a renowned horse whisperer. Roberts uses his horse-friendly "Joining Up" techniques on abused and mistreated horses, and adapts it for self-isolating veterans who have post-traumatic stress.

Roberts' program is about learning to trust people by choosing to, rather than by force, he said. By using the language of the horse or the stress of the veteran to communicate, he added, his program engenders trust.

"When they trust you, they will migrate toward you, rather than going away [out of fear]," he said. "Horses are flight animals. They are frightened of everything they don't understand. If they don't trust it, they need to get away from it, and that's how a veteran feels, too."

The old style of "breaking" horses often involved using violence to force them into submission, but Roberts' style, which he calls "gentling" or "natural horsemanship," is nonviolent.

"They get nothing from the fight, so they literally give up," he pointed out.

Veteran Alejandra Sanchez is on her fourth visit to Flag is Up Farms, but remembers her first time like it was yesterday.

"I have never been so scared in my life," she said. "I wasn't even that scared when I was in Iraq. My anxiety was through the roof, because I had to face that I had post-traumatic stress.

"Every night you knew when the sun set, action was going to happen," she continued, recalling her service in Iraq. "I remember coming to the oddly weird term of 'I might not make it.'"

Sanchez faced her fears head-on in the "Horses for Veterans" program.

"You have to work with people you don't know, and you already have trust issues," she said. "It definitely brought out all of the symptoms I face, but at an intense level I normally haven't dealt with." Sanchez said she had to learn to calm herself down for the horses to learn to trust her. "The horses would not respond to me if I was anxious, angry or violent," she said.

Veteran Alicia Watkins isolated herself from friends and family and lost everything she had after she returned from tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. She was homeless, living in her car for a year, and said she'd lost her dignity.

"I know what it's like to get to the point where you no longer want to live," she said. "I remember going on convoys and not being able to handle it." By the time she returned home in 2007, she'd had many near-death experiences, she said.

When she accepted an invitation to attend Roberts' program, she showed up huddled in layers of jackets, a hoodie and sunglasses. Roberts worked with Watkins to help her earn the trust of a horse after he saw room for extreme change in her, he said.

"Hearing him talk about training the horses, I began to realize how horses and my PTSD were ... the same," Watkins said. She said she related to the horses' "flight mentality," because that's what she saw in herself.

"To reprogram the horses to be domesticated was something I could identify with," she said, noting they had been neglected or abused by former owners. "I found something that could almost immediately erase the pain and suffering of all those years. "Within an hour, I was a totally different person."

When her horse began to trust her and obey her commands, Roberts said, Watkins "became the most exuberant, outgoing participant."

"The change in her was like night and day," he said. He invited her back to train for three days with a new class of veterans.

Watkins said she saw herself in the new class of veterans. "To see that shell open up and see that person transform, it's so beautiful to watch yourself in someone else," she said. "'I feel like a victim' becomes 'I feel like a victor.'"

After working through her isolation and related issues with PTSD in "Horses for Veterans," Roberts said, he thinks Watkins is gaining the ability to think through her problems.

Today, more than 30 Veterans Affairs medical centers participate in horse therapy for service members and veterans with challenges ranging from mental and emotional to physical.

"The horses we see that were traumatized and abused never forget it," Roberts said. "But you can mask it over with good behavior, and that's the same with veterans. They're not going to forget the trauma they went through. Their positive behavior outweighs it."

"Horses for Veterans" has given veterans such as Sanchez and Watkins a new start.

"To see how horses can come back to a place of reconnection and bonding lets me know I can recover from this," Watkins said. "I can be the new old me."

FIVE OFFICERS SENTENCED FOR SHOOTINGS ON DANZIGER BRIDGE IN NEW ORLEANS

FROM DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Five New Orleans Police Officers Sentenced on Civil Rights and Obstruction of Justice Violations in the Danziger Bridge Shooting CaseOfficers Sentenced for Role in Shooting Six Victims and for Extensive Cover-Up of Crimes

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that five officers from the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) were sentenced in connection with the federal civil rights prosecution of a police-involved shooting that occurred on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina, leaving two innocent civilians dead and four others seriously wounded.  The defendants were also sentenced for their roles in an extensive cover-up of the shooting  

U.S. District Court Judge Kurt Englehardt imposed long prison sentences on the four officers who were involved in the shooting on the bridge.  He sentenced those four officers as follows:
Sergeant Kenneth Bowen was sentenced to 40 years in prison;
Sergeant Robert Gisevius was sentenced to 40 years in prison;
Officer Robert Faulcon was sentenced to 65 years in prison; and
Officer Anthony Villavaso was sentenced to 38 years in prison.
The fifth officer, Sergeant Arthur “Archie” Kaufman, was a supervisor who was not involved in the shooting, but who helped the other officers cover up what they had done.   Kaufman was sentenced to six years in prison.
 “We hope that today’s sentences give a measure of peace and closure to the victims of this terrible shooting, who have suffered unspeakable pain and who have waited so patiently for justice to be done.  The officers who shot innocent people on the bridge and then went to great lengths to cover up their own crimes have finally been held accountable for their actions,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez.  “As a result of today’s sentencing, the city of New Orleans can take another step forward.”

“Our undying gratitude goes to our partners in the Civil Rights Division and FBI who, together with the tremendous professionals in the United States Attorney=s Office, made today=s closure – and justice – possible,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana Jim Letten.  “I am equally grateful to the courageous families of James Brissette and Ronald Madison who gave their lives on the bridge, as well as to those who suffered abuse needlessly at the hands of a few corrupt police officers.  We will never relent, back down or give up our fight to ensure that our citizens – especially those most vulnerable among us – never have to fear those who are sworn to protect them.”

“Today’s sentencings send a strong message that no one is above the law and the civil rights of all of our citizens are paramount in a free society,” said Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New Orleans Division David Welker.  “My hope as we move forward is that the men and women of NOPD and all law enforcement will conduct themselves always in a manner that will withstand the scrutiny of the bright light of justice.”

Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso were convicted in connection with the shootings of multiple victims, including 17-year-old James Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison, who died on the bridge.  Those four officers and a supervisor, Kaufman, also were convicted of obstructing justice during the subsequent investigations.
Five other officers pleaded guilty before trial and cooperated with the federal investigation.  Those officers testified at trial about the unjustified shooting on the bridge and about a massive police cover-up that followed.

The evidence at trial established that a group of police officers – including Sergeant Bowen, Sergeant Gisevius, Officer Faulcon and Officer Villavaso – opened fire with assault rifles and a shotgun, shooting at an unarmed family walking on the east side of the bridge.  Police gunfire struck the victims multiple times, wounding a New Orleans couple, their daughter, and their nephew, and killing family-friend James Brissette.  Susan Bartholomew, 38, suffered serious injuries, including the loss of her right arm, which was shot off by a high-powered assault rifle; Leonard Bartholomew III, 44, was shot in the leg and the back of the head, but survived his wounds;  Lesha Bartholomew, 17, was shot in both legs and in the stomach; and the Bartholomew’s nephew, Jose Holmes, 19, was shot in the face, the neck, both arms, the hand and the stomach.  James Brissette, who was shot in the back, the leg, both arms and the back of the head, died on the bridge.  The Bartholomew’s 14-year-old son ran away from the shooting and was fired at, but was not injured.  

According to the evidence presented at trial, a second shooting occurred several minutes later, on the west side of the Danziger Bridge.  After shooting at the Bartholomew Family and James Brissette, officers traveled to the other side of the bridge to chase two men – brothers Lance and Ronald Madison – who had run away when the shooting started.  Officers caught up to the Madisons on the west side of the bridge, where Officer Faulcon used a shotgun to shoot Ronald Madison in the back as Madison was running away.  Ronald, a 40-year-old man with severe mental and physical disabilities, died near the base of the bridge.

When the shooting was over, according to witnesses at trial, the officers at the scene immediately started a cover-up.  Lance Madison was arrested and falsely charged with eight counts of attempting to kill police officers.  Officers collected no guns or shell casings on the day of the shooting, and 30 casings they collected more than a month later were fired by officers rather than civilians.  Three weeks after the shooting, Kaufman testified at a court appearance for Madison, claiming falsely that Madison had had a gun on the bridge and had shot at police.  Madison was held in jail for three weeks, but was eventually released without being formally charged.

The evidence at trial also established that all five defendants conspired with each other, and with the officers who pleaded guilty, to cover-up what had happened on the bridge and to make the shootings appear justified.   As part of the conspiracy, Kaufman obtained a gun from his home and claimed to have found the gun at the bridge on the day after the shooting.  According to testimony, Kaufman also made up the existence of two phony eyewitnesses and fabricated alleged statements that he claimed to have taken from these witnesses and that he claimed helped justify the shootings.  There was also testimony that Kaufman and the other members of the conspiracy held a meeting in an abandoned and gutted out NOPD building, where the officers practiced getting their stories straight before they gave formal audiotaped statements about the shooting.

Kaufman, who wrote a formal report about the incident, in which he concluded that the shooting was justified and that Lance Madison and Jose Holmes should be arrested, was also found guilty of conspiring with other officers to have Madison and Holmes prosecuted on the basis of false evidence.

The five former NOPD officers who pleaded guilty before trial, admitting that they had participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice and cover-up what happened on Sept. 4, 2005, were all sentenced previously.  Former Officer Mike Hunter was sentenced to serve eight years in prison; former officer Ignatius Hills was sentenced to serve six-and-a-half years; former officer Robert Barrios was sentenced to serve five years; former lieutenant Michael Lohman was sentenced to serve four years; and former detective Jeffrey Lehrmann was sentenced to serve three years.

OWNERS OF SERENDIPITY HOME HEALTH INC., PLEAD GUILTY TO FRAUD

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 Monday, April 2, 2012
Two Owners and Two Employees of Miami Home Health Company Plead Guilty in $20 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON – Two owners and two employees of a Miami home health care agency pleaded guilty for their participation in a $20 million Medicare fraud scheme involving false billings for home health care services, announced the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Ariel Rodriguez, 41, Reynaldo Navarro, 37, and Ysel Salado, 26, each pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and Melissa Rodriguez, 24, pleaded guilty on March 28, 2012, before Judge Cooke to the same charge.
           
According to court documents, Ariel Rodriguez and Reynaldo Navarro were the owners of Serendipity Home Health Inc., a Florida home health agency that purported to provide home health care and physical therapy services to eligible Medicare beneficiaries.  Melissa Rodriguez and Ysel Salado were employees at Serendipity Home Health.

According to plea documents, Ariel Rodriguez, Navarro and their co-conspirators paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters.  In return, the recruiters provided patients to Serendipity, as well as prescriptions, plans of care (POCs) and certifications for medically unnecessary therapy and home health services.  Ariel Rodriguez and Navarro used the prescriptions, POCs and medical certifications to fraudulently bill the Medicare program, which Ariel Rodriguez and Navarro knew was in violation of federal criminal laws.
Melissa Rodriguez and Salado admitted that they cashed checks from Serendipity and provided the cash to Ariel Rodriguez and Navarro to use for the kickback payments.
According to plea documents, Serendipity nurses and office staff falsified patient files for Medicare beneficiaries to make it appear that the beneficiaries qualified for home health care and therapy services.  In fact, the beneficiaries did not actually qualify for and did not receive such services.  Ariel Rodriguez and Navarro admitted that they knew files were falsified so that Medicare could be billed for medically unnecessary services.

From approximately April 2007 through March 2009, Ariel Rodriguez, Navarro and their co-conspirators submitted approximately $20 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.  Medicare paid approximately $14 million on those claims.
The pleas were announced today by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Dennis of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations Miami Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph S. Beemsterboer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,190 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $3.6 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

CDC SAYS U.S. POPULATION HAS GOOD STUFF IN THEM

FROM:  CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
CDC report finds U.S. population has good levels of some essential vitamins and nutrients
Higher deficiency rates in some groups deserve attentionOverall, the U.S. population has good levels of vitamins A and D and folate in the body, but some groups still need to increase their levels of vitamin D and iron, according to the Second National Report on Biochemical Indicators of Diet and Nutrition, released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report offers a limited but generally favorable review of the nation’s nutrition status although the findings do not necessarily indicate that people consume healthy and balanced diets.

CDC’s Division of Laboratory Sciences in the National Center for Environmental Health measured these indicators in blood and urine samples collected from participants in CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Data are presented for the years 1999-2006, with emphasis on newly available data for 2003-2006.

 “These findings are a snapshot of our nation’s overall nutrition status,” said Christopher Portier, Ph.D., director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.  “Measurements of blood and urine levels of these nutrients are critical because they show us whether the sum of nutrient intakes from foods and vitamin supplements is too low, too high, or sufficient.”

The report also found that deficiency rates for vitamins and nutrients vary by age, gender, or race/ethnicity and can be as high as 31 percent for vitamin D deficiency in non-Hispanic blacks.

“Research shows that good nutrition can help lower people’s risk for many chronic diseases. For most nutrients, the low deficiency rates, less than 1 to 10 percent, are encouraging, but higher deficiency rates in certain age and race/ethnic groups are a concern and need additional attention,” said Christine Pfeiffer, Ph.D.,  lead researcher, in the Division of Laboratory Sciences in CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.
CDC’s Second Nutrition Report establishes blood and urine reference levels for 58 biochemical indicators; more than twice as many indicators as its first report, published in 2008.  The report includes first-time data for a new indicator of iron deficiency and for 24 healthy and unhealthy fatty acids.

Folic acid fortification:  A sustained public health success
The report found that the fortification of cereal-grain products with folic acid, which began in 1998, has had a sustained positive impact on blood folate levels.  The report shows folate deficiency dropped to less than 1 percent after fortification.  The report also shows that blood folate levels in all race/ethnic groups are 50 percent higher since fortification began.

Before fortification began, approximately 12 percent of women of childbearing age were deficient in folate, as determined by blood folate levels.  Folate is essential during periods when cells rapidly divide and grow, which is particularly important for women prior to and during pregnancy and for children during infancy.  Folic acid can help prevent some major birth defects of the baby’s brain and spine, such as spina bifida.

Vitamin D deficiency much higher in black Americans
The report found the highest rates of vitamin D deficiency in non-Hispanic blacks (31 percent) despite clinical data showing greater bone density and fewer fractures in this group. Further research is needed to explain why non-Hispanic blacks have better bone health but yet have a higher rate of vitamin D deficiency. According to the report, the vitamin D deficiency rate for Mexican-Americans was 12 percent and for non-Hispanic whites it was 3 percent.
Vitamin D is essential for good bone health but it may also improve muscle strength and protect against cancer and type 2 diabetes. Researchers are investigating these potential benefits, as well as, the vitamin D requirements for various groups.

Iodine levels border on insufficiency in women of childbearing age
Findings were not as encouraging with regard to the iodine status in young women (20-39 years of age). This age group had iodine levels that were just above iodine insufficiency. The young women also had the lowest iodine levels among any age group of women. Iodine is an essential component of thyroid hormones that regulate human growth and development.  Iodine deficiency disorders include mental retardation, hypothyroidism, goiter, cretinism, and varying degrees of other growth and developmental abnormalities.  Iodine is especially important in women during childbearing years to ensure the best possible brain development of the fetus during pregnancy.
First measurements of new iron deficiency marker and of both healthy and unhealthy fatty acids

Using a new marker of iron status, the report indicates higher rates of iron deficiency in Mexican-American children aged 1 to 5 years (11 percent) and in non-Hispanic black (16 percent) and Mexican-American women (13 percent) of childbearing age (12 to 49 years) when compared to other race/ethnic groups. The new iron marker measurements will help clinicians better interpret iron status in individuals, especially in persons with chronic disease that includes inflammation, such as certain cancers.
The report provides first-time data on blood levels of fatty acids in the U.S. population. These include heart healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as saturated fatty acids that increase risk of heart disease.  The report found heart healthy polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in plasma differ by race/ethnicity.  These first time measurements provide a baseline that will allow CDC to track fatty acid levels over time, which will evaluate our nation’s progress toward heart healthy diets.

Most comprehensive biochemical assessment of the nation’s nutrition status
CDC’s report is a detailed biochemical assessment of the nutrition status of the U.S. population. It is the second in a series of publications that provide an ongoing assessment of the U.S. population’s nutrition status. The series of reports provide information specific to population groups defined by age, gender, and race/ethnicity to show how these factors affect nutrition status in the United States.
CDC plans further analysis of report data that will help identify the influence of socio-economic and lifestyle factors on levels of nutrients in blood and urine. The agency also plans to continue its assessment of the nation’s nutrition status in future reports.

MATH MODELS USED TO STUDY DISEASE OUTBREAKS

Epidemiologists are improving mathematical models used to study disease outbreaks.

FROM NASTIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
PHOTO CREDIT:  NIH
Researchers Use Game to Change How Scientists Study Disease Outbreaks
April 3, 2012
It may seem like a game of tag, but it's an innovative tool for teaching the fundamentals of epidemiology, the science of how infectious diseases move through a population.
An international team of scientists--including researchers who teach an annual clinic at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Muizenberg, South Africa--is helping epidemiologists improve the mathematical models they use to study outbreaks of diseases like cholera, AIDS and malaria.
In 2011, attendees at the clinic were treated to a game of "Muizenberg Mathematical Fever," where players simulate a real life epidemic by passing around pieces of paper that say: "You have been infected."

The paper pieces are followed by instructions for propagating the disease.
The exercise proved so effective in demonstrating concepts in epidemiology that a discussion of the game is published in today's issue of the journal PLoS Biology.
"Infectious disease modeling is an established field of study in bio-mathematics," said Juliet Pulliam, a biologist at the University of Florida's Emerging Pathogens Institute and co-author of the paper.

"But there has been a tendency for mathematicians to operate separately from practitioners on the ground who track diseases."
The game was intended to convince all players in the epidemiology field that teamwork is the better approach.

"Reducing disease risk requires sophisticated mathematical models to inform public health officials and other policy-makers," said Sam Scheiner, Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF), which funded the research.

EEID is a joint NSF-National Institutes of Health program. At NSF, it is co-funded by the Directorates for Biological Sciences and Geosciences.

"This collaborative effort is training researchers in these techniques," said Scheiner, "as well as strengthening ties between U.S. and African students and scientists."
"Not knowing how data about an outbreak were collected can lead to misinterpretations," Pulliam said.

For example, if procedures change for how infected individuals are counted, it could create a spike in data that falsely portrays how a disease is being spread.
The misinformation, once introduced into a model, could throw off projections and interfere with efforts on the ground to prevent further outbreaks.

Ecologist Steve Bellan of the University of California, Berkeley, lead author of the paper, cites cases where collaborations between bio-mathematicians and classical epidemiologists have resulted in valuable lessons for tracking the spread of diseases.

HIV interventions and efforts to eliminate trachoma, a bacterial infection that causes blindness, successfully have used the tag-team approach, he said.

In both cases, studies have shown that when practitioners employ the power of mathematical modeling to strategically develop, analyze and scale-up interventions, they are more likely to interrupt the progress of an epidemic.
"This is about the importance of collaboration," said Bellan. "No one can be an expert in everything."

"In fact, the two sides typically meet up somewhere along the line during the process of an epidemiological study," he said. "We want to see more scientists working together from the start."

Toward that end, Bellan, Pulliam and six other scientists from South Africa, Canada and the United States offer two-week clinics every year at AIMS.
The clinics immerse epidemiological number-crunchers more fully into the human aspects of how disease spreads.

"We were sitting in the office the night before the recent clinic began, talking about how someone had shown up sick in a previous year and gotten everyone else sick," Pulliam said.

"Then Steve said something about how great it would be if we had captured data from that outbreak for use in the workshop."

The discussion sparked the idea to create a similar scenario in real-time by creating a fictitious disease. "We pieced it together in about an hour," said Bellan.
An "infectious" piece of paper serves as the agent for spreading "Muizenberg Mathematical Fever."

The paper notifies the receiver that he or she has been exposed, then instructs the infectee to email Bellan of his or her fate, use a random number generator to determine how many others should be infected,then pass the appropriate number of papers to other participants at the clinic.

The rules serve to propagate the disease, but also to build a data set of who infected whom and when.

"The drill produced an outbreak with data that looks like a real epidemic," said Pulliam.
Clinic attendees are usually more mathematician than epidemiologist, she said. They typically spend the first week just talking about where data sets come from, who collects them and what the numbers refer to.
"Using the game as a way to demonstrate those issues instead of talking about them is instructive on its own," she said.

But the real benefit came during the second week, when people working in groups experimented with various epidemiological models using actual data sets from HIV studies or other ongoing projects.
"Many opted to work with data sets from the game," said Pulliam, "because they were really tangible."

They found that familiarity with the process for collecting data greatly improved their ability to customize mathematical models so they accurately represented how a disease moved through a population.
That's exactly what we wanted them to get out of the workshop, Bellan and Pulliam said.

A NEW AFGHAN DETENTION CENTER COMMANDER

FROM AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Officials Congratulate New Afghan Detention Center Commander

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force and ISAF Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2012 - Top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Afghanistan offered their congratulations yesterday as an Afghan officer took charge of Afghan Detention Operations Command.

Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, joined U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan C. Crocker in congratulating Maj. Gen. Faroq Barekzai on his assumption of command at a ceremony held in Parwan, Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai appointed Barekzai to his new position March 28, officials said.

"Today's event is nothing short of monumental when looking at the significance of Major General Barekzai's assumption of command and the responsibilities he assumes for the Afghan people and his nation's justice system," Allen said at the ceremony. "This is a symbolic and visible step marking the progress we continue to make in partnership with the Afghan government as we work to develop and uphold the sovereignty they rightfully deserve."

Officials said the ceremony marked the first step of an agreed-upon process that will give the Afghan defense ministry full control of the detention facility within six months while protecting U.S. international and domestic legal obligations regarding detainees. Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed March 9, the United States will provide ongoing support and advice to the Afghan commander for up to one year.

"This assumption of command marks another step in the transition to Afghan control of security and is a sign of our support for Afghan sovereignty, as well as our commitment to an enduring partnership," Crocker said.

In operations around Afghanistan yesterday:

-- An Afghan-led force in the Daman district of Kandahar province captured a Taliban facilitator who supplied insurgents with weapons, ammunition and equipment. He also participated in roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition security forces.

-- A combined force found and destroyed 1,650 pounds of marijuana in the Maiwand district of Kandahar province.

In March 31 operations:

-- A combined force captured a Taliban facilitator, detained another insurgent and seized an Afghan National Police uniform in the Maidan Shahr district of Wardak province. The facilitator provided roadside bombs and other weapons to insurgents for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He is also suspected in the Jan. 2 attack along Highway 2 against a convoy escorted by Afghan security forces. Three Afghan soldiers were wounded in that attack.

-- A combined force captured a Taliban facilitator and detained three additional insurgents in the Charhar Darah district of Kunduz province. The facilitator managed the insurgent financial network in the province and provided funds that enabled attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- A combined force detained a suspect while searching for a Taliban facilitator in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province. The facilitator supplies insurgents with weapons, ammunition and equipment for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Kandahar City.

-- A combined force captured a Haqqani network leader, detained two additional insurgents and destroyed assault rifles and grenades in the Sayyidabad district of Wardak province. The Haqqani leader directed kidnappings and other insurgent operations against civilians and Afghan and coalition forces.

-- A combined force detained several suspects while searching for a Haqqani leader in the Bak district of Khost province. The insurgent leader organizes roadside bombings and directs other attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- A combined force detained three suspects and seized multiple weapons while searching for a Taliban facilitator in the Gardez district of Paktia province. The facilitator supplies insurgents with roadside bombs, weapons and ammunition for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

In March 29 operations:

-- A combined force came under insurgent mortar fire near a combat outpost in the Tagab district of Kapisa province. The mortar rounds landed in a nearby Afghan civilian compound, killing one woman and wounding three children. The children were provided medical treatment by Afghan and coalition forces.

-- An Afghan-led combined force detained several suspected insurgents and seized and destroyed more than 3,000 pounds of various narcotics in the Reg-e Khan Neshin district of Helmand province.

HHS SECRETARY SPEECH ON MEDICARE FRAUD

FROM:  DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE
SECRETARY KATHLEEN SEBELIUS
Chicago Fraud Prevention Summit
April 4, 2012
Chicago, IL
Thank you.
As you know, the work we’re doing together here today – sharing best practices and developing new strategies – is part of a national conversation that began in January 2010 at the first Health Care Fraud Prevention Summit and has continued across the nation.
It was President Obama who asked us to come together. When he came into office, we were, frankly, falling behind. Scams were getting bigger and more sophisticated. Criminals were being more creative and going after larger sums. They were evolving, and we needed to catch up.

So over the last three years that is exactly what we’ve done.
Attorney General Holder just spoke about law enforcement’s strong commitment to stamping out fraud. More boots on the ground has meant more criminals locked up, more schemes taken down, and a stronger health care system for the rest of us.
But we're not just prosecuting fraud. We're also taking steps to prevent it.
In the past, nearly anyone could fill out a form and become a Medicare provider. In a matter of weeks, criminals could set up false clinics, enlist willing accomplices and vulnerable seniors to submit false claims and begin collecting payments. For industrious criminals, this approach was a ripe target.
But that‘s no longer the case. Over the last three years we have made our health care system dramatically less appealing to those who once had thought of stealing from Medicare and Medicaid as easy money.
Today, I want describe how this transformation took place.
To begin, it’s now a lot more difficult for bad actors to get their foot in the door.
Today, before you can become a Medicare provider, you have to go through a rigorous third-party review process that will make sure you meet all the requirements to bill Medicare.
We have a comprehensive database that allows us to systematically screen all current and prospective providers against other key sources like provider licensing and criminal records. If you get banned from one Medicaid program or Medicare, you get banned from all Medicaid programs.

And if a doctor retires, dies, or becomes ineligible, we know about it and can remove his information from our system. In the past, out-of-date and invalid provider numbers would remain on the rolls -- like a forgotten backdoor entrance allowing criminals to sneak in and start billing bogus claims. But no longer.

I am proud to announce today that we have already removed 3,000 ineligible providers from the Medicare program identified in just the first month of these new screening procedures.

But that’s just our first line of defense. We’re also working to make sure that even if criminals do find their way into the system, it’s a lot harder to get away with taxpayer dollars.
In the past, government was often two or three steps behind perpetrators, quickly paying out nearly every properly submitted claim -- then later trying to track down the bad guys after we got a tip. That meant we were often showing up after criminals had already skipped town, taking all of their fraudulent billings with them.
But new data analysis tools allow us to analyze claims in real time, taking away criminals’ head start. Instead of the old ‘pay-and-chase’ model, we’re getting proactive by using a technology similar to the one credit card companies use to identify and stop suspicious payments before they go out. So now, just as Visa can put your card on hold when it is used to buy ten flat screen TVs, we have the ability to freeze questionable payments until we can investigate.

Since this system was put in place, we have stopped, prevented, or identified $30 million in payments that should never have been made. And because the system is designed to get smarter over time, it’s only going to be more effective in the future.
We’re also making it easier for law enforcement officials from the FBI, the Inspector General Office’s and local jurisdictions to share data and access claims information as soon as they are submitted to Medicare.

Under the old system, it was as if police officers in one town weren’t talking to the officers in the next town. Now, we’re all beginning to plug into the same system in real time, so we can respond with the same speed and agility as the criminals.
This new fraud prevention system has changed the equation for any criminal. But we also know that neither law enforcement, nor federal officials are going to stop fraud alone. And no law or technology is as effective at preventing fraud as consumers who are educated and informed.

So with the support of partner organizations across the country, thousands of Senior Medicare Patrol volunteers are giving their friends and neighbors the tools to recognize, resist, and report fraud.

Millions of beneficiaries have taken advantage of the program’s one-on-one or group counseling sessions and over 25 million people have received fraud prevention information through SMP community outreach events.
And it’s clear that this kind of outreach pays off.
In 2010, a home health agency set up an office in the lobby of a Chicago-area affordable senior housing building and offered free blood pressure checks. In the process, they collected seniors’ Medicare numbers.

One of those seniors later noticed something wasn’t right when she reviewed her Medicare Summary Notice. The home health agency had billed Medicare for more than $1,400 in skilled nursing services that she believed she never received. So she contacted the Illinois SMP and they helped her file a complaint.

The complaint triggered an investigation. And the investigation uncovered far more than a single isolated incident, leading Medicare to recoup more than $62,000 in inappropriate payments. Just as importantly, it ended a scheme that, if allowed to continue, could have drained thousands if not millions more from Medicare’s coffers.

And it all started with one cautious citizen who – thanks to the outreach and education of the local Senior Medicare Patrol -- knew to speak up when something wasn’t right.
From 2010 to 2011 the number of calls to the Illinois SMP rose 64 percent and the trend has continued into 2012. And as these numbers increase, the good news is that more and more of them are coming from seniors who are already putting into practice what they have learned from their neighbors, a local presentation, or ‘Fraud Alert’ emails. When someone calls on the phone or knocks on the door asking for their Medicare number, they know to refuse, and then to report it immediately.
This also serves to remind us that no one group, agency, or business owns all of the resources or expertise we need to keep criminals out of our health care system.
Because we all have a stake in preventing health care fraud, we’re all doing our part.
For someone thinking about committing fraud, this means the health care landscape looks a lot less friendly today:

It’s harder than ever to get into the system as a bad actor. Get in and it’s harder still to submit a fraudulent claim. Find a way to submit a claim and you are more likely to get caught. And when you get caught, you’re going to face a tougher punishment.
There is no responsibility that this Administration takes more seriously than safeguarding taxpayer dollars. I am proud of how far we have come. And I look forward to working with all of you in the days and months ahead to build on that progress and protect our health care system for this generation and the next.

STATE DEPARTMENT LOOKS FOR NEW WAYS TO MANAGE WASTE

FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
U.S. Department of State and Partners Solicit Creative Waste Management Solutions
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
April 3, 2012
The U.S. Department of State and partners from the LAUNCH: Beyond Waste Forum announce a challenge to identify ten game-changing innovations with the potential to transform current waste management systems and practices. LAUNCH: Beyond Waste seeks transformational solutions to the problem of waste through disruptive innovation, behavioral change, systems design, as well as improved policy and stewardship.

The challenge, which will be open from April 1 to May 15, 2012, asks creative minds to formulate innovative ideas for minimizing waste or transforming it into new products. As the global population increases and consumption trends continue to rise, the importance of sustainable materials management practices cannot be ignored. Safe and environmentally-sound management of waste is essential to conserving natural resources and preventing pollution, improving the health and well-being of global citizens and the environment and helping to prevent conflicts that can stem from resource inequality and poverty.
Ten innovators will be selected to present their technology solutions at the LAUNCH: Beyond Waste sustainability forum hosted by NASA from July 20-22 at the Agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. State Department, along with leaders from a diverse and collaborative world-class body of entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, government, media and business, will participate in the forum and help guide these innovations forward. The selectees will receive support, mentoring, and networking opportunities from influential business and government leaders.

The State Department, NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and NIKE joined together to form LAUNCH in an effort to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to global sustainability challenges. LAUNCH searches for visionaries whose world-class ideas, technologies or programs show great promise for making tangible impacts on society in the developed and developing worlds.

VA WORKS TO END VETERAN HOMELESSNESS

FROM AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

VA Makes Progress on Pledge to End Veteran Homelessness

By Donna Miles
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2012 - The Veterans Affairs Department is making progress on its pledge to end homelessness among veterans, with a focus on getting all homeless veterans off the streets by 2015, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki told American Forces Press Service.

Shinseki joined President Barack Obama in announcing the plan in November 2009, proclaiming that no veteran should ever have to be living on the streets.

VA is working toward that goal, Shinseki told Congress last month, reporting that the number of homeless veterans on a given night dropped from 76,300 in 2010 to about 67,500 in 2011. The next goal, he said, is to drive those numbers down to 35,000 by the end of fiscal 2013, and ultimately, to zero.

As Shinseki set out to transform VA after arriving in 2009, he made the homeless issue a top priority in getting to the bottom of what he viewed as an institutional problem.

"Homelessness among veterans was a demonstration to me that we didn't have all our programs knitted together," he said. "As good as we thought we were doing in health care and other benefits, ... we had people who were slipping through the gaps in our programs -- most visibly, the homeless."

Getting homeless veterans off the streets, particularly within such a tight timeline, would be the driving force in creating positive change throughout VA, he explained.

"If you say you are going to end homelessness, then you have to be good at everything else," he said. "If you declare to end it, you have to figure out all the pieces that contribute to it so you can begin solving the pieces in order for the whole to be solved."

That, he said, requires making sure VA is addressing the root causes behind homelessness.

It means more than simply getting veterans into school; it means making sure they graduate, he explained. It's not just sending them for vocational training; it's ensuring they finish the training and are postured to land a job.

"That's how you beat homelessness," Shinseki said. "It's not the front door. It's the back door. What did they gain out of the program?"

To support this effort, VA's budget request for fiscal 2013 includes nearly $1.4 billion for programs designed to prevent or end homelessness among veterans. This represents a 33 percent increase, or $333 million, over the 2012 funding level.

The additional funding will provide grants and technical assistance to community nonprofit organizations to maintain veterans and their families in current housing or get them quickly into new housing. It also will provide grants and per diem payments for community-based organizations offering transitional housing to 32,000 veterans.

Shinseki also plans to hire 200 coordinators to help homeless veterans with disability claims, housing problems, job and vocational opportunities and problems with the courts.

Since announcing his homeless initiative, Shinseki said, he's come to understand that dealing with homelessness is really a two-part challenge.

It's one thing to get homeless veterans physically off the streets in what he calls the "rescue" part of the challenge. Shinseki said he feels confident that this part of the mission to be completed by 2015, as promised.

But the less visible and more challenging part of the problem, he said, is addressing a population that's at risk of becoming homeless. These, Shinseki explained, are veterans who are "one paycheck, one mortgage payment, one more missed utility bill away from being evicted."

"We never see that. But if we are going to truly end homelessness, we have to have a better picture of [that]... and go into prevention mode," Shinseki said. "Otherwise, you will never be able to solve this."

So while he expects the rescue mission to wrap up in 2015, Shinseki said, he'll be able to dedicate more resources toward an ongoing prevention effort.

"If you don't stop this faucet, you never end homelessness," he said.

9-11 SUSPECTS REFERRED TO MILITARY COMMISSION

AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

DOD Refers 9/11 Charges to Military Commission

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2012 - The Defense Department has referred charges against five suspected 9/11 co-conspirators to a military commission, Pentagon officials announced today.

The charges allege that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi were responsible for the planning and execution of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

The convening authority -- DOD's Office of Military Commissions -- referred the case to a capital military commission, meaning the five accused could be sentenced to death if convicted.

In keeping with reforms in the Military Commissions Act of 2009, officials said, each has been provided, in addition to their detailed defense counsel, learned counsel with specialized knowledge and experience in death penalty cases to assist in their defense.

The five are charged with terrorism, hijacking aircraft, conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, and destruction of property in violation of the law of war. The convening authority has referred all charges to a joint trial. 

Officials emphasized that the charges are only allegations that the five accused have committed offenses punishable under the Military Commissions Act of 2009, and that they are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

In accordance with military commissions rules and procedures, the chief judge of the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary will assign a military judge to the case, and the five accused will be arraigned at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within 30 days after they're served with the referred charges.

JUSTICE ALLEGES MORTGAGE BANKER CHARGED HIGHER RATES & FEES TO AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND HISPANICS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, April 2, 2012
Justice Department Alleges GFI Mortgage Bankers Engaged in Illegal Lending Discrimination Complaint Alleges New York-Based Company Charged Higher Interest Rates and Fees to African-American and Hispanic Borrowers
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed a lawsuit alleging that GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc., a mortgage banker with operations in seven states, violated federal fair lending laws by charging African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates and fees on home mortgage loans because of their race or national origin, not based on their creditworthiness.

The complaint, filed today in the Southern District of New York under the federal Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act, alleges that GFI engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of race and national origin by charging African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates and fees on home mortgage loans compared to similarly-situated white borrowers.  The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York investigated and filed the lawsuit jointly.

“Charging  people more for home loans simply because of their race or national origin – as we have alleged in our complaint against GFI – is illegal. The Justice Department will act aggressively to ensure that all people have equal access to credit and a level playing field ,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “For that reason, vigorous enforcement of fair lending laws remains a top priority.”
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said, “As the lawsuit we filed today alleges, discrimination still exists in certain quarters and it has profound consequences for the victims.  At a time when so many American homeowners of all races and nationalities are struggling to make their mortgage payments, it is unacceptable that, as we allege, the impact of GFI Mortgage’s business practices resulted in its African-American and Hispanic customers paying higher fees and interest rates for their residential mortgages.  As today’s suit demonstrates, this type of discriminatory action will not be tolerated.  We will continue to work to ensure that fair lending laws are enforced throughout the district.”

“HUD and the Justice Department work together to end lending discrimination in America.  This case and others nationwide demonstrate our commitment to pursue lenders if they violate the Fair Housing Act and seek relief for discrimination victims,” said Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity John Trasviña.

From 2005 through at least 2009, GFI charged higher loan prices to African-American and Hispanic borrowers than it charged to similarly-situated white borrowers by charging higher interest rates and fees for home mortgage loans.  For example, an African-American borrower who took out a home mortgage loan in 2007 paid on average approximately $7,500 more over the first four years of the loan than a similarly-situated white borrower.  For a Hispanic borrower, the difference was approximately $5,600 more over the first four years of the loan than a similarly-situated white borrower.  The disparities, based on race or national origin, are statistically significant, and are unrelated to credit risk or loan characteristic.

During the period when the discrimination occurred, GFI had a policy or practice of allowing and encouraging its loan officers in New York and New Jersey to promote loan products, price loans and charge fees in a manner that was unrelated to credit risk or loan characteristics.  GFI knew that its loan officers priced loans in ways unrelated to a borrower’s creditworthiness, resulting in thousands of dollars in overcharges for African-American and Hispanic borrowers based on their race or national origin.  By providing its loan officers a substantial percentage of the profits generated on each loan, GFI’s compensation scheme provided strong financial incentives to loan officers to price their loan products in a discriminatory manner.  Moreover, GFI failed to supervise, train, or adequately monitor its loan officers to ensure that they were pricing loans in a non-discriminatory manner.

During the period when the discrimination occurred, the number of home mortgage loans issued by GFI increased from 974 in 2005 to 2,270 in 2009.  At the same time, GFI’s revenue from its home mortgage loan services increased from $305 million in 2005 to $768 million in 2009.

This case resulted from a referral by HUD to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in 2010.

JAPANESE AUTO PARTS COMPANY PLEADS GUILTY TO PRICE FIXING

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
G.S. Electech Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing on Auto Parts Installed in U.S. Cars Company Also Agrees to Pay $2.75 Million Criminal Fine
WASHINGTON – Toyota City, Japan-based G.S. Electech Inc. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $2.75 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix the prices of auto parts used on antilock brake systems installed in U.S. cars, the Department of Justice announced today.

According to a one-count felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, in Detroit, G.S. Electech engaged in a conspiracy to rig bids and to fix the prices of speed sensor wire assemblies, which are installed on automobiles with an antilock brake system (ABS) and were sold to an automaker in the United States and elsewhere. According to the charge, G.S. Electech’s involvement in the conspiracy lasted from at least as early as January 2003 until at least February 2010.  According to the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, G.S. Electech has agreed to pay a criminal fine and to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation.

"The Antitrust Division continues to uncover and prosecute illegal conduct in its ongoing and active investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis A. Pozen in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “Today’s announcement demonstrates that the Antitrust Division, working with its law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who engage in anticompetitive behavior that harms American businesses and consumers.

Including G.S. Electech, eight executives and four companies have been charged and have agreed to plead guilty in the investigation thus far. Three of the companies have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to pay criminal fines totaling more than $748 million. Seven of the executives have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve a total of more than 122 months in jail.

G.S. Electech manufactures, assembles and sells a variety of automotive electrical parts, including speed sensor wire assemblies. The speed sensor wire assemblies connect a sensor on each tire to the ABS and carry electrical signals from the sensors to the ABS to instruct it when to engage.

According to the charge, G.S. Electech and its co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by, among other things, agreeing during meetings and discussions in Japan to coordinate bids submitted to, and price adjustments requested by, an automobile manufacturer.  In court documents, G.S. Electech and its co-conspirators employed measures to keep their conduct secret, including using code names and instructing participants to destroy evidence of collusion.

G.S. Electech is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum fine of $100 million for corporations. The maximum fine for the company may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF TALKS ABOUT MILITARILY'S BOND OF TRUST

FROM: AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Dempsey: Military Must Keep 'Bond of Trust' With Troops, Families

By Elaine Sanchez
WASHINGTON, March 30, 2012 - The military is defined by a bond of trust -- between service members, their families and their communities -- that must remain unbroken, the military's top officer said here today.

"If we do that one thing, think about our profession as united with a common bond of trust, and commit ... to earning it every day. I don't care what happens to the budget ... I don't care what happens to the other countries in the world that might want ill to come to us, we'll be fine," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

Taking care of troops is a matter of trust, he added. "If we lose that [trust], it won't matter how much money we throw at ourselves. That's a fact."

After months of discussing budgetary and equipment concerns and fresh off a trip to South America, Dempsey turned his attention to what he called the military's "human dimension" at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury's Warrior Resilience Conference. This conference, in its fourth year, is intended to equip service members, units, families and communities with resilience-building techniques and tools.

As he spoke to an audience of nearly 750 behavioral health experts and military leaders, the chairman referred to an image of a squad leader in Afghanistan on the screen behind him. The soldier, his face contorted in a mix of fear and courage, was speaking on his radio with an evident sense of urgency.

Whatever it is the soldier is asking for, he'll get, the chairman said. "That's what sets us apart [as a nation]. He's going to get it -- whether it's kinetic ordnance, whether it's supplies, or whether it's what you're here to talk about today.

"We're going to get them the life skills, the confidence, the hope, which equals on some level ... the resilience you're here to talk about in our force, in our families," he pledged.

It took about a decade for the force to regain its sense of pride and clarity after the Vietnam War. That time lapse can't occur again, the chairman said.

"The world is changing so fast around us," Dempsey said. "If we wait until 2020 to build the kind of strength you're working to build into our formation, it will be too late.

"I fear if we wait and don't address this now, we not only won't be doing ourselves any favors, we won't be doing our nation any favors," he added.

The people gathered for this conference are taking steps on this front, Dempsey noted, "by seeking a deeper, richer understanding of what has happened to us as a force over the last 10 years.

"More importantly," he added, "what are you going to do about that? What are you going to do about the fact that 10 years of war has put enormous pressure on the force?"

They will be tackling these issues in an environment of challenged resources, the chairman acknowledged, and while ensuring they build and earn trust with their subordinates and coworkers each day. "Keeping faith with ourselves, our communities, our families ... that's what it's all about," he said.

Dempsey again referred to the squad leader's picture, this time pointing out the soldier's wedding ring. "If you think about this bond of trust, it doesn't stop in the forward edge or the rear edge of the battle area," he said. "It's got to run all the way back to hometown USA where he has a family."

Dempsey stressed the importance of turning to others for help when needed, calling resilience a "team sport." The chairman drove this point home with a story about a prior bout with throat cancer. It hit him hard, he said, since he'd always tackled obstacles on his own.

Instead, he said, he relied on his medical team, his family and his friends for help. "I realized for the first time in my life, I can't do this alone," he said. "It took cancer for me to figure that out. We can't let our young men and women figure that out the hard way."

Dempsey thanked the audience for their unwavering commitment to troop and family wellness. "What you're doing here has an absolute direct correlation with who we are today, but more importantly, has an even greater correlation to who we will be in the future," he said.

WELLCARE HEALTH PLANS OF FLORIDA WILL PAY $137.5 MILLION TO SETTLE MEDICARE FRAUD CASE

FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WEBSITE
Tuesday, April 3, 2012Florida-Based Wellcare Health Plans Agrees to Pay $137.5 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

WASHINGTON – WellCare Health Plans Inc. will pay $137.5 million to the federal government and nine states to resolve four lawsuits alleging violations of the False Claims Act, the Justice Department announced today.  WellCare, based in Tampa, Fla., provides managed health care services for approximately 2.6 million Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries nationwide.

The lawsuits alleged a number of schemes to submit false claims to Medicare and various Medicaid programs, including allegations that WellCare falsely inflated the amount it claimed to be spending on medical care in order to avoid returning money to Medicaid and other programs in various states, including the Florida Medicaid and Florida Healthy Kids programs; knowingly retained overpayments it had received from Florida Medicaid for infant care; and falsified data that misrepresented the medical conditions of patients and the treatments they received.

Additionally, it was alleged that WellCare engaged in certain marketing abuses, including the “cherrypicking” of healthy patients in order to avoid future costs; manipulated “grades of service” or other performance metrics regarding its call center; and operated a sham special investigations unit.

The settlement requires that Wellcare pay the United States and nine states – Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New York and Ohio – a total of $137.5 million.  WellCare may also be required to pay an additional $35 million in the event that the company is sold or experiences a change in control within three years of this agreement.

“Government health plans increasingly rely on managed care organizations to provide patient care.   This case illustrates our commitment to ensure that government funds are in fact used to render care and not to line the pockets of those more concerned with the bottom line,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.


This is the second monetary settlement reached with WellCare since the government initiated a criminal and civil investigation of WellCare in 2006.   On May 5, 2009, in order to resolve potential criminal charges related to losses by the Florida Medicaid and Healthy Kids programs, WellCare entered a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Florida, under which WellCare paid $40 million in restitution and forfeited an additional $40 million.   The U.S. Attorney’s office also has pursued criminal charges against several former Wellcare employees.   One former WellCare analyst, Gregory West, entered into a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge shortly after execution of a search warrant on WellCare’s corporate headquarters in Tampa; he is currently awaiting sentencing.  Five former executives – including former CEO Todd Farha, former CFO Paul Behrens and former general counsel Thaddeus Bereday – were indicted in March 2011 and are currently awaiting trial, which is presently scheduled for January 2013.   Additionally, Wellcare previously executed a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) with the Office of Inspector General of the U.S.  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG) that imposes compliance obligations on the company for a period of five years.  

The resolution of the civil suits announced today brings the total recoveries from WellCare to $217.5 million, a number that will rise to over a quarter billion ($252.5 million) if the contingency payment provision is triggered.

“The monies recovered in restitution and from this settlement agreement will go to the federal and state programs which suffered these losses, while the forfeited funds will go to law enforcement to help fund future investigations,” said Robert E. O’Neill, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.   O’Neill continued, “In an era of decreasing federal and state budgets, and increasing healthcare costs, we must pursue all available civil remedies to recover losses suffered by government healthcare programs.   This settlement should serve as notice to those defrauding state and federal healthcare programs that, in addition to appropriate criminal prosecutions, we will utilize civil suits to root out their conduct and recover their ill-gotten gains.”

“Fraud committed by managed care companies harms the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs and increases the healthcare burden for all of us,” said David B. Fein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.   “The government is committed to preventing fraud in federal and state health care programs, and managed care companies that are dishonest will be held accountable.”

“Ensuring the integrity of the Medicaid and Medicare managed care programs is one of our highest priorities ” said Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. “OIG will work vigilantly with law enforcement partners at all levels of government to safeguard this vital program.”

The four lawsuits were filed by whistleblowers, known as relators, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which allows private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery.  Sean Hellein, a financial analyst formerly employed by WellCare whosequi tam complaint initiated the government’s investigation, will receive approximately $20.75 million.   The other three relators – Clark Bolton, SF United Partners Inc. and Eugene Gonzalez – will split about $4.66 million and will be entitled to receive an additional share of any contingency payment.

This resolution is part of the government's emphasis on combating health care fraud and another step for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in May 2009. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover more than $6.7 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. The Justice Department's total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 are over $9 billion.

This case was investigated jointly by the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the District of Connecticut, the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units, the FBI, and the HHS-OIG.

The claims settled by today’s agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability except as noted in the referenced criminal proceeding.

FDA WARNS OF ANOTHER COUNTERFEIT CANCER DRUG

FROM:  FDA E-MAIL

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting healthcare professionals that another cancer drug, originating from a foreign source and purchased by U.S. medical practices, has been determined to be counterfeit. Medical practices that purchase and administer illegal and unapproved foreign medications are putting patients at risk of exposure to drugs that may be fake, contaminated, improperly stored and transported, ineffective, and dangerous. Illegal drugs purchased from foreign sources may not be genuine or meet appropriate quality, safety, and efficacy standards, putting patients at risk and depriving them of proper treatment.

Patients receiving cancer drugs or other drugs not approved by the FDA for the U.S. market may not be receiving needed therapy. Patients are encouraged to discuss any concerns they may have about the source of their medications with their healthcare professional.

FDA lab tests have confirmed that a counterfeit version of Roche’s Altuzan 400mg/16ml (bevacizumab), an injectable cancer medication, found in the U.S. contains no active ingredient. Even if the identified drugs were not counterfeit, Altuzan is not approved by FDA for use in the United States (it is an approved drug in Turkey). On February 14, FDA issued an alert about another cancer drug in U.S. distribution that was purchased from a foreign source and found to be counterfeit.

FORMER CONTRACTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO STEAL AND SELL MILITARY EQUIPMENT IN IRAQ

FROM:  DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WEBSITE
Monday, April 2, 2012
Former Civilian Contractor Pleads Guilty in North Carolina for Role in Scheme to Steal and Sell Military Equipment in Iraq

WASHINGTON – A former U.S. civilian contractor pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of North Carolina to conspiring to steal military generators in Iraq in 2011 and selling them on the black market, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

David John Welch, 36, of Hope Mills, N.C., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt to a criminal information charging him with one count of conspiracy to steal property under the control of a government contractor.

According to court documents, in 2011, Welch was the operations and maintenance manager of a U.S. government contractor on Victory Base Complex in Baghdad.  In this capacity, Welch had the ability to influence the distribution and movement of military equipment as well as U.S. government equipment.  In addition, Welch was in charge of overseeing the movement of generators from the compound to the Defense Reutilization & Marketing Office (DRMO).  In October 2011, Welch and a co-conspirator entered into a scheme to steal and later sell approximately 38 generators on the black market in Iraq to unknown co-conspirators by diverting these generators from the DRMO to an undisclosed location off-base in Iraq.

After the generators were stolen from the compound, Welch’s co-conspirator provided him with four stacks of $100 bills, totaling approximately $38,600.

At sentencing, scheduled for July 9, 2012, Welch faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release following his prison term.  As part of his guilty plea, Welch agreed to pay $160,000 in restitution to the United States.

This case is being prosecuted by Special Trial Attorney Mark Grider of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, on detail from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  The case is being investigated by the FBI, SIGIR and the Major Procurement Fraud Unit of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command.