May 22nd, 2017 by WCBC Radio

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced today that his office has filed suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County against Kris-Leigh Catered Living of Severna Park, LLC and its owners (“Kris-Leigh”) under the Maryland False Health Claims Act for submitting or causing claims to be submitted to the Maryland Medicaid Program for services that were not provided or which were so grossly substandard that the care was worthless and effectively without value.

The allegations relate to claims submitted by Kris-Leigh since January 2013. During this period, Kris-Leigh has billed Medicaid for services that it did not provide, such as providing legally mandated resident health and medical assessments and implementing resident medication plans.  The complaint also alleges that the services that Kris-Leigh did provide were so grossly substandard that the care was essentially worthless.  Since January 2013, heart attacks went undiagnosed, pleas for help went unheeded, residents were not given adequate nourishment, and unattended residents had falls necessitating emergency room visits.  In one tragic incident, a resident suffering from dementia was allowed to wander out of the facility and onto the highway, where she was struck by an automobile and killed.  Bed bugs are allowed to infest the facility and black mold endangers the health of residents and staff alike. 

The complaint alleges that Kris-Leigh is chronically understaffed and that the staff it does employ are often underqualified and untrained.  Kris-Leigh frequently ignored the numerous material deficiencies plaguing the facility, ignored the numerous citations it received from the Maryland Office of Health Care Quality, and largely ignored complaints from staff and residents.  Yet, Kris-Leigh knowingly misled the Medicaid program by falsely certifying that each of the claims it submitted to the Medicaid program for reimbursement was for services that were medically necessary, actually provided, and in full compliance with all state and federal regulations as to the requisite standard of care owed to the residents in their charge.

“When people are not being fed, when they are suffering injuries in their own residences, and when their pleas for help go unanswered, they are not getting the assisted living services to which they are entitled,” said Attorney General Frosh. “These patients deserve to be treated with care, dignity and respect.  Our office will stand with them and will recoup the monies paid by the state for the services these Marylanders failed to receive.”

In the complaint, the Attorney General requests that the court impose civil penalties and award treble damages to the State.

The full complaint is available here.