UW, prosecutors seek delay in unsealing suit

Federal prosecutors and the University of Washington have asked a judge to delay unsealing a whistle-blower lawsuit that triggered a criminal investigation into UW doctors overbilling Medicare and Medicaid.

The lawsuit has been sealed for 4-½ years, but the seal is set to expire Monday. If it is unsealed, the public will be allowed to review the suit.

Prosecutors and UW attorneys submitted a motion to U.S. District Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein last week asking that the seal be extended to April 30 to give them more time to finalize a settlement in which the UW would pay $35 million to the government for inflated billings.

The request, the latest in a series of such motions, was filed under seal, but its contents were described to The Seattle Times by people familiar with the matter.

The Times objected to the new request in a letter sent Monday to Rothstein. Since early last year, The Times repeatedly has asked the judge to unseal the suit, saying the public has a right to know its contents before a settlement is presented to the court.

Rothstein has refused, agreeing with the parties that keeping the case sealed would help lead to a settlement. She has yet to rule on the latest request.

The civil suit was filed under seal in August 1999 by Mark Erickson, then a UW employee who alleged UW doctors had engaged in massive overbilling of Medicare and Medicaid, according to people who have read the suit. Erickson also alleged that his efforts to warn superiors of billing problems were rebuffed.

Erickson has not objected to unsealing the suit. He stands to be paid 15 to 25 percent of any settlement under a Civil War-era law intended to encourage whistle-blowers to come forward.

His suit led to a lengthy criminal investigation, concluded last year, in which one UW doctor pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing the investigation and one doctor pleaded guilty to a felony charge of submitting a false bill. Prosecutors also have taken an active role in the civil suit.

UW officials have resisted unsealing the suit, contending some allegations are incorrect or misleading.

Neither they nor prosecutors are allowed to comment because of a court order preventing the parties from discussing the proposed settlement.

UW doctors and UW Medicine, the umbrella organization for all university medical facilities, tentatively agreed in January to the $35 million settlement, according to sources close to the negotiations.

Since then, the UW and prosecutors have been working on a final agreement, despite anger within the UW Board of Regents over the amount, the sources said.

The payment would be the largest ever by a teaching hospital since the government began examining billing practices at teaching hospitals 10 years ago. The largest so far has been $30 million paid by the University of Pennsylvania in 1995.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com