Jones Day Talks Health Care: The Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act
In a cautionary tale for health care entities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina recently announced the convictions of two health care executives who admitted to orchestrating a multi-year...more
The Ninth Circuit recently decided United States v. Schena, 142 F.4th 1217 (9th Cir. 2025), which considered the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (“EKRA”). EKRA, enacted in 2018 to address “body brokering” and other...more
On July, 11, 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed laboratory operator Mark Schena’s conviction under Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA). This is the first time a higher court has addressed the lab...more
On July 11, 2025, in United States v. Schena, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued the first appellate decision interpreting the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (“EKRA”). The decision marks a...more
In the past few months, federal prosecutors in California have brought multiple indictments under the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA) charging the owners of substance abuse treatment facilities and their...more
As Holland & Knight previously reported, since its enactment in 2018, the Eliminating Kickbacks Recovery Act (EKRA) has been a source of anxiety and confusion for the clinical laboratory and behavioral health industries in...more
Since its enactment in 2018, the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA) has rapidly gained momentum as a powerful tool against healthcare kickbacks. By 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) had already secured its...more
The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed two decisions that provide additional guidance regarding how arrangements with marketing agents implicate and violate the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, 18 U.S.C. § 220(a)(EKRA)....more
On July 11, 2025, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision clarifying the scope of Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA). In affirming a Northern California-based medical testing laboratory’s convictions under EKRA, the...more
In a matter of first impression, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the scope of the 2018 Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA) in the context of a lab operator who allegedly paid marketers to induce...more
On July 11, 2025, in United States v. Schena,[1] the Ninth Circuit adopted an expansive interpretation of the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA), applying the law to any payment that could have the effect of...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that a laboratory owner’s payments to marketing intermediaries violated the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA)—in its first interpretation of the statute...more
In one of the few prosecutions based on the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA), and in an even rarer Court of Appeals opinion interpreting the statute, the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Schena, No. 23-2989, 2025...more
On July 11, 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the criminal conviction of laboratory operator Mark Schena for violations of the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, 18 U.S.C. § 220 (EKRA) based on...more
Since the pandemic, COVID-19-related fraud has been a consistent target of the Department of Justice....more
Hear directly from the enforcement community - Want to gain insight into properly monitoring, detecting, investigating, and managing violations? Join us at HCCA’s Annual Healthcare Enforcement Compliance Conference to...more
To combat the effects of declining reimbursement levels, many physicians and practice groups offer ancillary services to improve patient care and supplement practice revenues. The delivery of these ancillary services, such as...more
In the post-COVID era, health care fraud and abuse issues will be aggressively and swiftly enforced by the government. The legal framework and regulations in the health care space can be intimidating. Below is a comparison of...more
Mark Schena, the President of Arrayit Corporation, has been found guilty by a jury for violations of the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA), healthcare fraud, wire fraud, and securities fraud....more
On October 24, 2018, Congress enacted the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act, (the “SUPPORT Act”). Section 1822 of the SUPPORT Act contains the...more
As in the previous fiscal year, we expect the federal government to direct much of its fraud and abuse law enforcement activities at the health care industry. The federal government has many civil, criminal, and...more
On November 4, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the conviction of several South Florida addiction treatment facility operators following a seven-week trial. ...more
The federal government has recently made clear its intention to go after healthcare providers who provide amniotic injections to certain Medicare and Medicaid recipients. Over recent years, the federal government has...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are scrutinizing health care providers’ Medicare billings for amniotic injections. These injections are only eligible for Medicare...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many new enforcement priorities for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). From selling ineffective personal protective equipment (PPE) to companies fraudulently seeking loan forgiveness under...more