Designed for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, this newsletter seeks to bring you up to speed on key federal and state False Claims Act (FCA) developments, with links to primary resources. Each quarter, we...more
Whistleblower Watch is a comprehensive source for all False Claims Act (FCA) news and information. Every quarter, Cozen O’Connor will provide in-house counsel and compliance professionals with a summary of the most notable...more
What: The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari on a petition seeking to curtail the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ability to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam cases, even if DOJ has determined that the...more
On February 1, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the second-largest annual total recoveries in the history of the False Claims Act (FCA)—$5.6 billion—for FY 2021 (October 2020 – September 2021)...more
In July of 2021, the Department of Justice announced that it entered into a settlement agreement with two Texas companies, Alliance Parent, Inc. (“Alliance”) and Anchor Holdings LP d/b/a Anchor Capital Partners (“Anchor”),...more
Federal government enforcement in the telemedicine space continues to escalate, with three separate announcements in just the last three weeks regarding criminal and civil telemedicine-related actions. These enforcement...more
On May 10, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $22 million settlement with the University of Miami (UM) to resolve allegations related to improper billing for off-campus provider-based facilities, medically...more
When Abraham Lincoln signed the False Claims Act (FCA) into law in 1863, it was a legislative reaction to a series of sensational congressional investigations into war profiteers’ sale of phony provisions and useless...more
In an action especially significant to hospice providers but also other healthcare providers regarding the determinations of medical necessity for Medicare billing purposes, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and AseraCare...more
In the DOJ’s first-ever criminal action against an electronic health records vendor, San Francisco-based Practice Fusion Inc. agreed to pay $145 million to resolve allegations that it received kickbacks from pharmaceutical...more
On November 5, 2019, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled on a motion to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam suit filed by the United States Department of Justice, long after it...more
Two recent False Claims Act (FCA) settlements between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and transportation companies point to the continuation of a recent trend by the DOJ to use the FCA as a significant enforcement tool...more
More than two years after the Northern District of Alabama granted summary judgment in a False Claims Act (FCA) case in favor of AseraCare Inc., holding that “contradiction based on clinical judgment or opinion alone cannot...more
On June 26, 2019, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio granted a motion to dismiss a qui tam lawsuit against HCR ManorCare Inc. and its subsidiaries, including Heartland Hospice Services, LLC...more
Healthcare Management Associates (HMA) settled criminal and civil charges with the Justice Department for illegal fraud and kickback schemes. HMA billed federal government healthcare programs for inpatient services that...more
Admissibility of statistical sampling to prove liability in FCA suit is fact dependent. In a February 14, 2017 decision, the Fourth Circuit declined to rule on the question of whether statistical sampling can be used to...more
After granting the relators’ petition for an interlocutory review of the district court’s rejection of the use of statistical sampling to establish FCA liability, the Fourth Circuit ultimately declined to reach that issue in...more
In recent years, civil enforcement efforts involving the FCA have grown significantly. Today, the FCA impacts a vast array of businesses, as it is commonly used to redress false claims for government funds involving...more
Last week, a jury in Alabama federal court sided with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and qui tam relators in the first part of a False Claims Act (FCA) case against AseraCare Inc., a provider of hospice and palliative care...more