Georgia News Briefly

Work zone foreman critically injured

ATLANTA — An assistant high way maintenance foreman was critically injured Monday while in a road work zone, officials with the Georgia Department of Transportation said

GDOT officials said it was the second work-zone incident in a week, with one last week killing a motorist.

On Monday, Curtis Lewis was critically injured in a work zone on State Route 113 in Polk County, GDOT officials said. Lewis and co-worker Michael Allan Hatch were outside their truck as they patched the road when a vehicle rear-ended the DOT truck, causing the vehicle to strike Lewis. GDOT officials said Lewis was airlifted to Grady Hospital and was listed in stable condition.

On Friday, May 6 a motorist was killed, and Highway Emergency Response Operator (HERO) Operator 1 Miguel Jaime avoided injury in a work zone on I-285 at Old National Road in south Fulton County. While Jaime assisted a stranded motorist on the shoulder of the road, another vehicle entered the work zone and struck the back of the HERO truck. Jaime, who was not in his truck, was not hurt. GDOT officials the driver of the vehicle that struck the HERO truck died in transit to the hospital.

“Our workers must be allowed to go home to their families at the end of the day,” Transportation Commissioner Russell R. McMurry said, as he reflected on the increase in employee injuries over the last year. “We cannot overemphasize the need for motorists to pay attention when driving in general – and especially in our work zones. We must keep our employees safe.”

In 2015, there were 27 work zone fatalities in Georgia – all members of the public. Nationally in 2014, based on the latest available data, 82 percent of work zone fatalities were drivers or their passengers, GDOT officials said.

States, feds settle kickback suit

ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens announced Tuesday that Georgia had joined with other states and the federal government to settle United States et al., ex rel. John Slowik v. Olympus America Inc., et al., a whistleblower lawsuit that alleged that Olympus and certain of its subsidiaries paid kickbacks to health care providers.

Olympus America will pay $306 million, with Georgia receiving $2,378,244.27 under the settlement, Olens’ office said.

The civil lawsuit alleged that Olympus used improper financial incentives to induce doctors and hospital executives to buy a wide ranging array of its endoscopes and other surgical equipment, illegally increasing sales and gaining market share.

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits the offering, solicitation or acceptance of any type of gift or remuneration in exchange for rewarding referrals for federal health care program business. The law was enacted in order to eliminate Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse, Olens’ office said.

“Surgical decisions, such as which equipment to use during delicate surgical procedures, should be based on impartial medical expertise, and not influenced by the payment or receipt of kickbacks,” Olens said. “This case reflects my office’s continued commitment to investigating allegations of Medicaid fraud and abuse and litigating those cases when necessary to represent the best interests of Georgia taxpayers.”

The state settlements were negotiated by a team of states led by representatives from the Office of the Attorneys General for the states of California, Delaware, Indiana, New York, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Bogus DNR checks part of scam

ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has been victimized in a fraudulent check scam, DNR officials said Tuesday.

While the checks that were sent out did appear very similar to an official DNR check, the check numbers did not align with any outstanding checks written by the department, officials said. Citizens who notified DNR about the possible scam were directed by instructions included with the check to send a text message to a number registered in California after depositing the check.

The check includes the correct DNR address and phone number, but they were not sent from the department, officials said. These checks are fraudulent and depositing a check may enable criminals to access the depositor’s personal banking information, DNR officials said.

Anyone who receives a similar check in the mail is asked to contact DNR officials at (404) 656-3500. Anyone expecting a refund or some other form of payment from DNR should call before depositing a check, and not to follow through with any instructions advising the person to make contact after a deposit is made, officials said.