Former Apex Hospice Director Can Proceed With Retaliation Suit

A former medical director at Illinois-based Apex Hospice and Palliative Care can move forward with her claim that the company violated the False Claims Act by firing her in retaliation for calling attention to Medicare fraud, a federal district court said.

Janice Makela adequately alleged that Apex fired her because she refused to certify patients who would be covered by Medicare but were otherwise ineligible for hospice care, Judge Virginia M. Kendall of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said Thursday.

Makela sued Aug. 7, alleging that she repeatedly opposed Apex’s efforts to admit the ineligible ...