Thursday, February 21, 2019

Xerox Pays $236 Million to Settle State of Texas Dental Fraud Case Legal Team: Whistleblowers Dr. Christine Ellis, Madelayne Castillo, Yarubi Morales and others Are Vindicated

Xerox Pays $236 Million to Settle State of Texas Dental Fraud Case
Legal Team: Whistleblowers Dr. Christine Ellis, Madelayne Castillo, Yarubi Morales
and others Are Vindicated


AUSTIN, Feb. 20, 2019 – The $236 million settlement of the State of Texas’ Medicaid fraud
claims against Xerox Corp. business units vindicated whistleblowers Dr. Christine Ellis,
Madelayne Castillo, Yarubi Morales and other whistleblowers, their legal teams said today. The
settlement is the largest recovery ever in a healthcare fraud recovery suit in Texas for Medicaid
related claims.

The State’s lawsuit alleged that Xerox violated the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act and
“rubber-stamped” prior authorization requests by unqualified clerical employees, allowing “vast
numbers” of orthodontic procedures for children whose condition did not meet Medicaid criteria
for treatment. The company, formerly known as Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., before Xerox
acquired it, also was accused of making false statements or representations in Medicaid filings
with the state.

Dr. Ellis, an orthodontist in Dallas, testified before a congressional committee in Washington in April 2012 about alleged Medicaid fraud in orthodontic billings by Texas dentists.

Ms. Castillo was an employee of the now-defunct All Smiles dental chain and West Texas Dental. Ms. Morales was a former employee of the now defunct All Smiles dental chain and Rodeo Dental.

Dr. Ellis, Ms. Castillo, Ms. Morales and several other whistleblowers all filed suits approximately
two years before the State filed its suit. The State has acknowledged that the facts underlying its
suit are the same as those underlying the whistleblowers’ previous filings.

Xerox became the state’s Medicaid administrator in 2003. Between 2004 and 2012, Texas
expended approximately $1.1 billion on orthodontics under the Texas Medicaid program.
According to the State’s lawsuit, Xerox, and ACS, Inc. before it, repeatedly represented to Texas
Medicaid officials that their prior authorization system ensured proper predeterminations of
qualifications.

Ms. Castillo, Ms. Morales and several other whistleblowers who filed cases against ACS/Xerox
are represented by Rusty Tucker of the Law Offices of James R. Tucker, P.C. of Dallas and MikeTibbals of Dallas. Ketan U. Kharod, of Guerrero & Whittle, PLLC, of Austin, Charles S. Siegel
and Caitlyn Silhan, of Waters and Kraus, of Dallas, Daniel L. Hargrove, of the Hargrove Law Firm
of San Antonio, and James R. Moriarty, of the Law Office of James R. Moriarty of Houston
represent Dr. Ellis.

Charles Siegel of Waters and Kraus said, “Because of Dr. Ellis and other whistleblowers who
brought lawsuits against ACS/ Xerox, the State of Texas ultimately showed how Xerox and ACS,
Inc. deeply compromised the integrity of the Texas Medicaid program. They faced vicious legal
attacks in their courageous efforts to set the record straight.”


Rusty Tucker of the Law Offices of James R. Tucker, P.C. said, “Our legal team hopes this
settlement sends a strong message that companies that prey upon Texas families and defraud the
state will face the judgment of the courts. Companies who commit unlawful acts in violation of
the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act will be held accountable. Dr. Ellis, Ms. Castillo, Ms.
Morales and other whistleblowers who came forward should be recognized for helping expose this
massive fraud.”

The case is “The State of Texas v. Xerox Corporation, et al.,” Cause No. D-1-GV-14-000581 in
the 53rd Judicial District of Travis County, Texas.

CONTACTS:
Rusty Tucker, Law Offices of James R. Tucker, P.C. (214) 505-0097
Charles Siegel, Waters and Kraus (214) 357-6244
James Moriarty, Law Offices of James R Moriarty (713) 857-1212

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

After WFAA investigation, company settles with State of Texas for record $235.9 million

Xerox Corporation and its former subsidiary, Conduent, agreed Tuesday to a record $235.9 million settlement with the State of Texas, according to the Texas Attorney General's Office. 
It was the largest single Medicaid fraud-related settlement in a case filed by the Texas Attorney General.

The settlement comes after a three-year WFAA investigation that uncovered millions of dollars in alleged overbilling by Texas dentists targeting low-income children for unnecessary and often harmful dental and orthodontic work.

Read entire story at WFAA website

Related:

 WFAA's Byron Harris reports 

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Tailwind Capital's Dental Service Organization Investments: Benevis and Lone Peak

Just an FYI, since I'm sure this information will be needed one day:

Smiles 4 Kids, which had been purchasing many old Small Smiles clinics and Kool Smiles are both now operated by Tailwind Capital.

Benevis is Kool Smiles and Resolution Dental
Lone Peak is Smiles 4 Kids as well as a few other names.


Financing for Benevis's sale to Tailwind seems to be, in part,  by New Mountain Finance and happened during the 1st quarter of 2018. Probably before the ink on the Kool Smiles settlement was dry. 

In a May 2018 conference call transcript New Mountain states:
Our new investments were highlighted by a larger-size directed origination of a unitranched loan for Benevis, several club deals including a loan to ACA Compliance and one addition to both our net leased portfolio and our SBIC investing program. We believe that the consistency of our deal flow in this competitive market shows the strength of the broad sourcing network that we have built.
(unintranched debt: debt is a type of structured debt that obtains funding from multiple participants with varying term structures.)
 

In their 2018 holdings report, Washington State Investment Board is invested is Tailwind and New Mountain.


Although Benevis still shows up on FFL Partners website's portfolio page,  it is listed under the "Former" tab on their website.

Tailwind Captial Portfolio
FFL Partners Portfolio

Thursday, February 07, 2019

Toddler who died after dental procedure at Kool Smiles was hooked up to empty oxygen tank as staff muted heart alarm: lawsuit

Toddler who died after dental procedure was hooked up to empty oxygen tank as staff muted heart alarm: lawsuit

Jan 9, 2019

The heartbroken family of a 2-year-old boy who died after a visit to the dentist last year is suing the Arizona clinic, claiming that a staff member repeatedly muted the alarm on a heart monitor that he was hooked up to, and that the oxygen tank he was supposed to be receiving supplemental air from was either faulty or empty.

Zion Gastelum’s mother, Veronica, brought her son to the Kool Smiles dental clinic in Yuma in December 2017 after it was determined that the boy needed crowns to address severe cavities. According to a police report obtained by ABC 15, Aaron Roberts was contracted by the clinic and was supervising the procedure, and a dentist later told responding officers that the procedure had gone “well.”

According to the family’s lawsuit, while under general anesthesia Zion had nine of his baby teeth worked on, including root canals and crowns on six of them. The complaint alleges that X-rays or further investigative exams were not conducted to confirm that the nine procedures were necessary.

Read more here.


Related:

Police report offers new details in case of 2-year-old who died after Yuma dental appointment

DOJ: Kool Smiles dental clinics to pay $23.9 million, allegedly submitted false claims