Attorney General Maura Healey is suing a Massachusetts law firm over an alleged illegal kickback scheme, her office has announced.
The law firm, Keches Law Group, P.C., has allegedly accepted more than $90,000 in illegal kickbacks from a pharmacy in exchange for referring at least 800 personal injury clients to the pharmacy, according to the suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court.
Healey alleges that the law firm “engaged in unfair and deceptive acts” under the state’s consumer protection law.
Keches Law Group accepted more than $90,000 in kickbacks from Injured Workers Pharmacy in exchange for referring the clients without disclosing its financial interest in the referrals or obtaining their clients’ informed consent, according to the suit.
“Lawyers in Massachusetts are expected to follow the law,” Healey said in a statement. “Clients should feel confident that they are getting unbiased advice from their lawyers, not being steered towards providers that are secretly paying for referrals.”
Keches Law Group in a statement said the law firm is “surprised and disappointed” with Healey’s lawsuit. The suit is based on the law firm’s short-term marketing arrangement with the online pharmacy, Keches Law Group said.
“KLG cooperated with the AGO’s unrelated investigation of that pharmacy and immediately terminated its commercial relationship,” Thomas F. Maffei, of Sherin and Lodgen LLP, counsel to Keches Law Group, said in a statement. “There was no quid pro quo, and to their knowledge no client was harmed.
“KLG denies that its conduct was unfair or deceptive in any way and disputes the AGO’s characterization of the facts,” they added. “For 35 years, KLG has fought to protect the rights and interests of thousands of injured Massachusetts workers and accident victims. KLG will continue to do so while it defends this claim.”
The Attorney General’s Office started investigating Keches Law Group in connection with an investigation into Injured Workers Pharmacy’s dispensing practices.
The investigation into Injured Workers Pharmacy resulted in an $11 million consent judgment resolving claims that the pharmacy violated the state’s consumer protection law by “failing to implement adequate safeguards against unlawful and dangerous controlled substance dispensing and by paying kickbacks for new patient referrals.”
"general" - Google News
September 28, 2020 at 04:14AM
https://ift.tt/3mVTVEv
Massachusetts law firm sued by Attorney General Healey over alleged illegal kickback scheme - Boston Herald
"general" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YopsF9
https://ift.tt/3faOei7
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Massachusetts law firm sued by Attorney General Healey over alleged illegal kickback scheme - Boston Herald"
Post a Comment