Kids-for-Cash Documentary Set to Debut This Weekend

A documentary about a juvenile justice scandal in Northeastern Pennsylvania will have its premiere this weekend at a film festival in New York.

“Kids for Cash” will be shown Sunday at the festival called DOC NYC. The film directed by Robert May examines the case of former Luzerne County judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. now serving lengthy prison terms.

Prosecutors say the judges locked away thousands of children at for-profit detention centers – often for minor offenses – in exchange for payments from the facilities’ builder and co-owner.

Last year, a federal judge approved a nearly $18 million settlement for 1,600 juveniles who said they were wrongfully incarcerated.

“Kids for Cash” also will have a special screening in Philadelphia on Feb. 5, two days before it’s released in theaters nationwide.

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Kids-for-Cash Documentary Set to Debut

Judge OK’s $18M Settlement in ‘Kids-for-Cash’ Case

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has given final approval to a settlement that will pay out nearly $18 million to juveniles who allege they were wrongly jailed by corrupt judges.[Former Luzurne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella]

The approval granted Friday in Scranton allows attorneys to begin distributing money to about 1,600 teens and their parents.

The funds come from developer Robert K. Mericle (MEHR’-ih-kuhl), who built a pair of for-profit youth detention centers.

Two Luzerne County judges accepted payments from Mericle and routinely jailed teens at the facilities. The judges are now serving lengthy prison terms.

Mericle pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony. He awaits sentencing in the so-called “kids for cash” scandal.

Affected youths will receive between $500 and $5,000. Some will get more based on the circumstances of their incarceration.

Source: Judge OK’s $18M Settlement in ‘Kids-for-Cash’ Case

Abbot Labs to Pay $1.5 Bil in Settlement

As part of the largest Medicaid fraud case ever led by a state, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced the sentencing of global health care company Abbott Laboratories Inc. in the United States District Court in Abingdon, Va., today [10/5]. The court approved the $1.5 billion settlement reached on May 7, 2012, among Abbott, Virginia, the United States government, and 48 other states and the District of Columbia, in which Abbott pled guilty to a criminal charge and admitted civil liability for the company’s unlawful promotion of the prescription drug Depakote for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) was the lead investigative agency in the case, partnering with the prosecutors and civil attorneys from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia. This was the largest Medicaid fraud recovery in U.S. history resulting from a state-led investigation, with the Virginia MFCU spending more than four years on the investigation, traveling to 26 states to conduct interviews and sifting through more than one million records looking for evidence.

When it pled guilty in May, Abbott agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability pertaining to government health care programs that were defrauded based on reimbursements paid for Depakote due to Abbott’s illegal marketing practices. The settlement that was approved today includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $700 million and civil settlements with the federal government and the states totaling $800 million.

The civil settlement includes $270 million for the federal government’s share of the Medicaid program; $239 million for the states’ share of the Medicaid program; and $291 million for Medicare and other federal programs. Abbott will also pay a $500 million fine to the federal government, $198.5 million in criminal asset forfeiture penalties, and $1.5 million to Virginia MFCU to cover investigative costs. Virginia’s share of the Medicaid civil settlement is $4.2 million.

Abbott must also agree to the terms of a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Full Article and Source:
Abbot Labs to Pay $1.5 Billion in Virginia Led Case
See Also:
Abbot Labratories to Pay $1 bil Over Misbranding Drug