DOVER, Del. (AP)- A federal judge has refused to allow attorneys for Delaware's largest hospital system to file certain documents under seal as they seek dismissal of a whistleblower lawsuit filed by its former compliance officer.
In a lawsuit backed by the federal government, former Christiana Care executive Ronald Sherman claims that the hospital system defrauded taxpayers by funneling Medicaid payments to independent doctors as kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals.
The judge on Friday rejected Christiana's request to file certain compliance disclosure documents under seal in support of its motion to dismiss the case.
Christiana was required to submit the compliance disclosure logs to federal officials under a corporate integrity agreement entered into in 2010 following similar allegations of Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Christiana settled that case for $3.3 million.
