West Palm Beach, FL-based MorseLife Health System has paid $1.75 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed the nursing home defrauded a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program. The provider allegedly administered limited COVID-19 vaccines to eligible recipients.
The vaccines were part of a program meant to steer limited vaccine doses specifically designated to vaccinate long-term care facility residents and staff, to hundreds of ineligible individuals, according to the Justice Department.
“The settlement today exemplifies my office and its law enforcement partners’ strong commitment to combating all forms of healthcare fraud-related schemes, especially those that exploit government resources designed to assist individuals who were acutely affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida said Thursday.
When the CDC’s Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care program began, doses of COVID-19 vaccine were in limited supply. According to the Justice Department, of 976 people vaccinated at the Dec. 31, 2020, clinic, 567, or more than half, were ineligible to participate in the program.
According to the Justice Department, MorseLife allegedly invited members of MorseLife’s various boards of directors to the vaccination clinic and characterized them as “staff.” The vast majority of those people were donors to MorseLife, the DOJ said. In addition to current board members, the company invited former board members as well as board members’ spouses, children, family members and friends to the vaccination clinic, the Justice Department said.
Despite the allegations, MorseLife denies any wrongdoing. A spokesman for the corporation told McKnight‘s that MorseLife “chose to settle this matter to avoid the expense and distraction of protracted litigation.”
Further, the spokesman added, “Any nursing home resident or staff member who wanted the vaccine and was eligible according to federal and state guidelines at that time received it free of charge. The resolution of this matter enables us to continue pursuing our mission and will have no impact on MorseLife’s operations and programs.”
