Shareholder and member of the firm’s Litigation practice Ryan S. Hedges was recently quoted in a Crain’s Chicago Business article discussing the potential impact on Chicago’s health care sector following the recent announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that it has established a new task force focused specifically on the investigation and prosecution of health care fraud offenses.

Formerly an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago, Mr. Hedges investigated and prosecuted some of that office’s most complex health care fraud cases before joining Vedder Price as a shareholder in 2015. Most notably, Mr. Hedges helped lead the multi-year investigation of the former Sacred Heart Hospital, resulting in the conviction of numerous hospital administrators and physicians who participated in a 12-year-long kickback conspiracy that paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to doctors in exchange for their referrals of Medicare and Medicaid patients to the hospital.

As discussed in the Crain’s article, the government’s recent dedication of resources may lead to an increase in the investigation and prosecution of health care fraud offenses in the Chicago area. Mr. Hedges and Vedder Price’s Government Enforcement & Special Investigations team are uniquely qualified to handle these types of cases as they may arise in Chicago and across the country.

To read the article in full and Mr. Hedges’s comments, please click here. (Subscription may be required.)