Georgia nursing home to pay $2.5 million settlement
A Georgia nursing home has agreed to pay $2.5 million to resolve allegations of misuse of government funds.
Federal and state authorities investigated Life Care Center of Lawrenceville, GA, after five whistle-blowers filed a complaint against the facility in 2002. They alleged the facility failed to provide adequate care to residents and, as a result, some residents died prematurely. The failure was a result of under-staffing, inadequate training, high staff turnover, an ineffective medical director and other deficiencies at the facility, they said. All five complainants were relatives of residents at Lawrenceville.The fine was assessed based on violations of the federal False Claims Act for billing for services that were not provided or were worthless to residents. Tennessee-based Life Care Centers of America, Gwinnett Operations LLC, Developers Investment Company Inc. and Forrest L. Preston will pay the fine. The federal government, the state of Georgia and some of the initial complainants will receive portions of the settlment.
