An 18-year-old lawsuit has now ended in victory for George Washington University.
Cue the obligatory Dickensian reference to Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, the go-to literary example of endless litigation.
In 1995, four registered nurse anesthetists sued GWU, contending the university violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for reimbursement for anesthesia procedures to Medicare. The nurses alleged GWU sought reimbursement from Medicare under the pretense that the anesthesia procedures had been wholly performed by a licensed anesthesiologist when parts had actually been performed by residents or CRNAs.
In the years since, 800 filings have been made in the case, as logged by PACER. Rulings have been rendered over the course of litigation of three different judges and two different magistrate judges. On Monday, U.S. District.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ended the last of the case, issuing summary judgment on behalf of GW.
Representing the university has been William D. Nussbaum and Jonathan L. Diesenhaus of the firm Hogan Lovells.
(disclosure: Michael Doyle teaches a journalism class as an adjunct at George Washington University.)