Meagher got in touch with an FBI agent, Joe Ford, who is now head of the FBI, and the bureau began a criminal investigation into cost-reporting fraud by Columbia Healthcare Corp., the burgeoning corporation that had purchased other hospitals named in Alderson's case.

Then, in 1996, John Schilling, who had worked as a CPA for Columbia, came forward with evidence for a case similar to Alderson's. Schilling suggested that his complaint be combined with Alderson's, and Alderson agreed.

In 1997, Schilling went back to work as a consultant for Columbia while wearing a wire for the FBI. Soon after, the bureau raided 35 hospitals in seven states looking for evidence of illegal accounting practices.

"That was a strange feeling," Alderson said. "It was all over the national news, and I knew what was going on."

The government, though, still had not joined Alderson's lawsuit.

The toll wore heavily on Alderson and his family. In July 1998, after five years of government requests for extensions, Alderson, who had kept his involvement in the proceedings secret from friends and family, said he wouldn't agree to them any more.

Unable to stall any longer, the government announced that it was joining the case.

Success

With the government in, the lawsuit was unsealed, and Alderson's claims became public for the first time.

Stories in the The New York Times and on CBS's 60 Minutes gave the case valuable national exposure. With the hospital companies spending millions and millions of dollars to fight the suit, Alderson said, "We needed all the help we could get."

Media pressure and the government's involvement with the case apparently worked. In 2001, Quorum settled for $82.5 million, and HCA followed with a settlement in 2002. Between the two cases, Alderson and his by now 11 law firms received $70 million in settlement money, and the government was awarded hundreds of millions of dollars. HCA and Quorum spent over $300 million in litigation costs defending their actions.

After 13 years, Alderson said, he and his family finally had their lives back.

Witness protection without protection

While the case was under seal, Jim and Connie weren't allowed to tell anyone during the years after the case was filed -- even their closest family and friends -- about it.

"I felt like we were living a second life," Connie said. "You kind of feel like you're in a witness protection program without the protection."

After the case became public, a neighbor in Dillon admitted to wondering about the huge boxes that always arrived at the Alderson's via Fed Ex. They were filled with documents for Alderson to study, but their neighbor thought they looked suspicious.

"The neighbors thought I was doing something illegal, or that Connie was hooked on QVC," Alderson said, chuckling.

Still, Alderson said he wouldn't do things differently if he had a second chance, though he certainly regrets some specific incidents. Being so intensively involved in the case led him to miss a host of important events, from his son's football games to being at his mother's side on the day she died. "I went to Kansas City on a Thursday and she died that Saturday," Alderson recalled. "I think that taught me I better put some things into perspective."

"I just took them all as learning experiences," he added. "I think it toughened me up. I'm a believer that there's a reason for everything."

Return to regular view	Text-only              Email this article	Published: 11/27/2007