Phillips & Cohen partner Peter Chatfield was interviewed by the Financial Times’ Health Systems Specialist for a two-part series about the hearts, minds, and experiences of whistleblowers in the healthcare industry. The series follows several whistleblowers represented by Chatfield, and gives insight into their motivations for becoming whistleblowers.
“Today, roughly 70% of qui tam actions are centered in the healthcare sector, according to Peter Chatfield, a partner with the Phillips Cohen law firm in Washington … because government spending on healthcare services has mushroomed in the intervening decades, there are many companies of all shapes and sizes that receive Medicare and Medicaid dollars and the fiscal relationships are often complicated. ‘There are a lot of opportunities for fraud,’ he says, adding that most healthcare qui tam relators have specialized financial skills and knowledge.”
“Chatfield observes that whistleblowers tend ‘to have a higher sense of basic notions of right and wrong. ‘They’re usually people that find it going against their grain to go along to get along,’ he says, adding they may also believe they have no choice. If they take no action, it may mean they are at risk for being blamed.”