James M. Thompson, M.D. from Corpus Christi, Texas was the first doctor in the nation to blow the whistle on healthcare giant Columbia/HCA. Together with his attorneys, he took on the largest healthcare provider in the nation in a lawsuit alleging kickbacks and Medicare fraud. United States of America ex rel. James M. Thompson vs. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, et. al., filed in U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi in March 1995, was the first public disclosure of Columbia/HCA's wrongdoings. This disclosure led the government to undertake an extensive investigation that eventually encompassed virtually all of Columbia/HCA's business practices and led to a comprehensive settlement of allegations by Dr. Thompson and others of Medicare fraud. As a result of work like this, the healthcare chain has been brought to account and approximately $1.7 billion in civil and criminal settlements and claims was recovered by Medicare. This action was taken by Dr. Thompson at great personal cost. His disclosure of the chain's financial inducements involving physicians led some of his colleagues to ostracize him. When other doctors would not share on-call duties for his patients, he ended up practicing alone without a day off for three years. This stress and overwork led to Dr. Thompson suffering a stroke in 1998, which left him unable to continue his medical practice. At last, under the False Claims Act, Dr. Thompson was able to receive a portion of the monies recovered due to his efforts.