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DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. plans to spend more than $25 million annually on compliance efforts related to allegations the kidney-care company profited by billing the government for usable medications that were discarded. In discussing a whistle-blower lawsuit settlement that could cost the Denver-based firm up to $495 million, DaVita CEO Kent Thiry told investors Tuesday that he was frustrated, humbled and disappointed. (Wallace, 5/6)

The well-known libel and defamation lawyer Lin Wood left Bryan Cave four years ago because he wanted to represent two whistleblowers – a doctor and nurse – who claimed that the kidney dialysis company DaVita had rigged its drug delivery protocols to overcharge Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs for unused medications. The False Claims Act whistleblowers had filed their case back in 2007 and already had lawyers, including Marlan Wilbanks of Wilbanks & Bridges. But in March 2011, the Justice Department made the decision not to intervene in the case, leaving the whistleblowers to litigate against DaVita without help from the government. ... So how did a case that failed to entice the government turn into a half-billion-dollar bonanza? ... there’s not much mystery if you look at the public docket in the case. (Frankel, 5/5)