PHILADELPHIA – While being sued for “providing worthless services” to Pennsylvania residents, DePaul Healthcare and Nursing Home Associates were granted in part and denied in part their motion in limine and motion for summary judgment.
The court determined that Terry Jackson’s “evidence of regulatory noncompliance does not show the level of malfeasance required to prove a factually false claim based on a worthless theory,” Judge Eduardo Robreno wrote in his April 15 opinion in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
“On the other hand, Jackson does point to enough evidence of the submission of inaccurate forms to raise a genuine issue of material fact about the submission of a legally false claim based on an express certification theory.”
Jackson claimed that during his 15-year run as a part-time certified nursing assistant for River’s Edge nursing home, which is operated by the defendants, residents didn’t receive the proper care because of the huge lack in adequate staff, and subsequently gave the federal government fake forms in an attempt to show it was practicing lawfully.
The defendants’ motion in limine was granted, with the exception of a portion concerning their attempt to remove testimony that when River’s Edge issued accurate forms, that indicated as a false claim.
The expert Jackson provided – Craig Ratner – determined that River’s Edge issued false claims when it denied that it gave less than standard care to residents and submitted fake and false forms. The judge ruled his testimony will stand because he is “qualified to testify as an expert on health care regulation compliance” as a result his background in the industry.
The motion for summary judgment was granted in part and denied in part as Jackson showed that there was a minimum of seven fake claims concerning seven MDS papers that were issued with inaccuracies.
“No reasonable jury could find that River’s Edge submitted an implied false certification because Jackson does not point to any evidence showing that River’s Edge made specific representations,” Robreno said.
Aside from the MDS forms, Jackson didn’t prove that River’s Edge didn’t follow federal and state mandates.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania civil action number 15-020