Phillips & Cohen whistleblower attorney Peter Chatfield provides his perspective on a qui tam lawsuit he brought on behalf of Dr. Michael Mayes in a feature story about the case in The State, a Columbia, SC, newspaper. The lawsuit so far has recovered more than $168.5 million for the government in settlements with several blood-testing laboratories that allegedly paid kickbacks to doctors and defrauded Medicare.
“It’s uncommon for anyone to take the risk (to be a whistleblower),” said Mayes’ attorney, Peter Chatfield. “Dr. Mayes has really put himself out there.”
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Mayes and the other whistleblowers are entitled to share 15 to 25 percent of the government’s $114 million judgment, Chatfield said. Because the case went to trial, it will likely be on the higher end … the judgment and settlements the government is receiving is “only a small piece of the savings,” Chatfield said. Had these companies not been stopped, the government would have continued to lose “hundreds of millions a year.”