Whistleblower Alleges Misuse Of Federal HIV Treatment Funds

A whistleblower referral filed with the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services alleges several irregularities in the handling of federal HIV treatment funds by a West Virginia contractor, including kickbacks, embezzlement and federal benefits continuing to dead clients.  

According to nonprofit Empower Oversight, which helped to file the referral, the state received approximately $5 million in federal Ryan White Part B funds in fiscal year 2025, contracted in part to AIDS Task Force of the Upper Ohio Valley.  

The Ryan White Program is a federal program that functions as a payer of last resort for HIV-positive individuals who face cost barriers in obtaining HIV care. It is named after Ryan White, who was 13 when he was diagnosed with AIDS after a blood transfusion in December 1984 and subsequently became the face of public education about the disease. 

In a press release, Empower alleges the task force ignored multiple concerns brought by one of their medical case managers including: 

• Benefit disbursements to beneficiaries who were deceased — in one case for nearly three years after a documented death, and in another for more than two years after the death was reported to the program;  

• Enrollment of beneficiaries for whom no proof of identity, income, or HIV status appears in the system, raising the prospect of fictitious or unverified enrollees drawing federally funded medication benefits;  

• Improper billing and potential kickbacks involving at least one participating pharmacy;  

• Embezzlement and other misappropriation of program property, including gas cards and program credit cards 

The release says when the medical case manager took her concerns to state officials, “she was told to take her disclosures back to the very supervisor she had identified as potentially complicit.” 

Empower Oversight calls for the Inspector General to obtain and audit complete program records and take steps to protect the whistleblower from retaliation, among other steps.