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Precision Lens owner dies in plane crash

An image of a P-40E aircraft, courtesy of Alan Wilson from Peterborough, Cambs, UK – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Precision Lens owner Paul Ehlen died yesterday in Montana, shortly after taking off in a World War II vintage P-40E on the way back to Minneapolis.

Precision Lens confirmed Ehlen’s death in a statement shared with Twin Cities media outlets: “Paul had a passion for restoring and flying vintage military aircraft, and he was killed this morning when the single-engine P-40 he was flying back to Minneapolis suffered a mechanical failure on takeoff.”

Ehlen died more than a month after a U.S. District Judge entered a $487 million judgment against Precision Lends and Ehlen in a False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute case. The company at the time said it planned to appeal.

Federal prosecutors claimed the distributor’s activities resulted in 64,575 false claims to the Medicare program between 2006 and 2015. They said Ehlen and the company took doctors on hi…

Precision Lens, owner hit with $487M judgement in kickbacks case

[Image from Pixabay]A U.S. District Judge entered a judgment against Precision Lens and its owner, Paul Ehlen, for more than $487 million in a kickback case.

Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright’s decision follows a verdict handed down by a federal jury in Minnesota earlier this year. The jury concluded that the defendants violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Precision Lens and Ehlen faced allegations of paying kickbacks to ophthalmic surgeons to induce the use of their products in cataract surgeries reimbursed by Medicare.

The jury found that the defendants submitted 64,575 false claims to Medicare, resulting in $43.7 million in damages to Medicare.

Under the False Claims Act, the minimum civil penalty totals $5,000 per false claim and three times the amount of damages sustained by the government, according to a U.S. Dept. of Justice news release. In this matter, that amounts to more than $358 million in statutory penalties and an addit…

Precision Lens faces $48M verdict in kickbacks case

[Image from Pixabay]A federal jury in Minnesota has handed down a $48 million verdict in a kickbacks case involving cataract surgery lens distributor Precision Lens.

The jury yesterday found that Cameron-Ehlen Group, which does business as Bloomington, Minnesota–based Precision Lens, and its owner Paul Ehlen violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute.

Federal prosecutors claimed the distributor’s activities resulted in 64,575 false claims to the Medicare program between 2006 and 2015. They said Ehlen and the company took doctors on high-end skiing, fishing, golfing, hunting, sporting, and entertainment vacations. Many times, they flew the doctors to exclusive destinations on private jets.

In addition, prosecutors said that physician customers received airline frequent flier miles at a significant discount.

“The jury’s verdict protects the integrity of the Medicare system for patients and those healthcare providers who operate…