Welcome to MD Ranger’s five-part blog series on risk management! We hope that these articles will help both you and your organization understand the ever-increasing need for strict, internal compliance procedures. This week, we delve into the circumstances surrounding a policy change over at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and how it affects both physicians and medical directors.
Late last year, former US Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein announced the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) intent to focus on individual wrongdoers in corporate investigations. The DOJ has made fighting white-collar crime a priority, going as far as to establish a Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud.
Rosenstein emphasized that “the most effective deterrent to corporate criminal misconduct is identifying and punishing the people who committed the crimes.” It can be difficult to prosecute white-collar crime. The individual perpetrators of these crimes have nothing to fear. A fine and a slap on the wrist mean little to executives and administrators protected by corporate culpability. Corporate criminal prosecutions rarely deter crime–the decision-makers walk free, while employees and investors bear the brunt of the financial penalty.
Recent changes to DOJ policy reflect the gravity of this situation. Rosenstein explains that companies are now incentivized to identify individual wrongdoing. If an organization wants credit for cooperation, they must identify individuals both behind and aware of the wrongdoing. This revised policy will still impose penalties on the corporations themselves–corporate resolutions offer greater opportunity for restitution and funding toward compliance programs.
These resolutions, however, should not exempt the individual perpetrator from criminal liability. The nature of corporate crime can be likened to that of the many-headed Hydra. When one head is cut off, two more take its place; penalizing a company only as an entity does nothing to deter further criminal activity. DOJ has taken a play out of Hercules’ book, deeming it necessary to cut the head off the beast and then cauterize the stump.
Physicians and medical directors should be wary of these new circumstances. DOJ does not discriminate between corruption and noncompliance. If brought to their attention, organizations that repeatedly violate Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute will be treated with the same prejudice as corporations implicated in criminal behavior. Don’t put yourself or your organization in jeopardy.
Questions or concerns? Read Rosenstein’s full address here, and feel free to email info@mdranger.com for further inquiry.
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