Branford Advance Practice Nurse Resolves False Claim Allegations With $455K Settlement: CT Attorney General

BRANFORD, CT — A Branford-based advanced practice nurse and her medical office agreed to pay more than $455,000 to resolve allegations she violated state law when she caused pharmacies to bill the state's Medical Assistance Program for injectable specialty drugs that she failed to administer to patients, according to Attorney General William Tong.

"To resolve their liability under the Connecticut False Claims Act, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Dayna L. Giordano and her medical office agreed to pay $455,598.31," Tong said.

An investigation found that from June 1, 2019, through August 31, 2023, APRN Giordano was enrolled in the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program (“CMAP”), which includes the Connecticut Medicaid program, Tong said.

According to the Attorney General, Giordano treated patients at her own medical office in Branford. He noted that as part of her Medication Assisted Treatment for patients with opioid or alcohol use disorders, Giordano prescribed and administered monthly injections of the long-acting, extended-release drugs Sublocade, Vivitrol, and Abilify Maintena, Tong said.

"Giordano caused several specialty drug pharmacies to submit claims to the Connecticut Medicaid Program for the injectable drugs," according to Tong. "The specialty pharmacies delivered the drugs directly to Giordano's Branford office for patient administration."

But, Tong said, "Giordano never administered numerous doses to the patients for whom they were ordered, resulting in losses to the Connecticut Medicaid Program, which reimbursed the specialty pharmacies for the dispensed drugs."

"Although Giordano did not seek or receive payment for these drugs, she knowingly failed to administer the drug injections due to improper medication inventory tracking and substandard record-keeping causing the specialty pharmacies to bill DSS for drugs that were never administered to the intended patients," Tong said.

“Dayna Giordano’s poor record-keeping wasted taxpayer dollars and unused medications. We will continue to work closely with our state and federal partners to aggressively protect the integrity of our public healthcare programs,” the Attorney General said.