Whistle blowers usually end up screwed.  They lose their jobs, lose their reputations and often lose their ability to get new jobs despite the good they do in reporting fraud, abuse and malfeasance.  Sometimes, however, they win.

The False Claims Act has a provision called qui tam, commonly known as the whistle blower law, which allows anyone who knows of a fraud practiced on the federal government to receive a portion of the compensatory damages, civil penalties and damages.  The act stems from an 1863 law designed to stop dishonest  Union contractors.  With the country in turmoil during the Civil War, the Lincoln didn’t have time or manpower to pursue every potential fraud.  Instead, he reached out to individuals to find and provide evidence of fraud and, in return,  receive a portion of the damages.

Richard West, 63, of Tuckerton, NJ, wasn’t aware of the law, but when he went to the dentist in 2004 and was told that he had exhausted his Medicaid benefits, he got out his calculator and began to go through his meticulously detailed medical receipts.  A disabled, wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran, fought for seven years before finally proving that someone had been making charges against his Medicaid account.  “The more I uncovered, the more pissed off I got,” he told the Washington Post.

He discovered that Maxim Healthcare, a company with 300 offices in 40 states that had provided his home health care, had committed massive Medicaid fraud.  They eventually were convicted of submitting  $61 million in phony reimbursements.  They agreed to pay $121.5 million in reimbursements and penalties and paid $8.4 million to the Veterans Administration.  They also paid $20 million in fines. West received ten percent of all the payback.  In all, he received $15.4 million for his efforts, showing that even with muscular dystrophy , this veteran knows how to fight for his country.

Complete details about the settlement, click here.