HHS Policy Changes, Supreme Court Rulings, and the DOJ-HHS False Claims Act Working Group
Medical Device Legal News with Sam Bernstein: Episode 14
The Justice Insiders: FIFA Corruption Trial – Will the Feds Score Another Goal?
Rob DeConti on the Latest Guidance and Insights from the OIG at HHS
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
This issue of McDermott Will & Schulte’s Healthcare Regulatory Check-Up highlights regulatory activity for July 2025, including the results of the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, DOJ...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
There is a widely held view that the current Justice Department (DOJ) is deemphasizing white collar enforcement. While this may be true in some areas, it is certainly not the case when it comes to health care fraud. Rather,...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
Texas AG Ken Paxton has sued pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly for allegedly bribing and illegally inducing medical providers to prescribe and continue prescribing several Lilly drugs—including GLP-1 medications Mounjaro...more
On August 11, 2025, New Jersey’s Acting Governor, Tahesha Way, signed into law two bills to combat patient brokering and deceptive marketing practices in the Substance Use Disorder (“SUD”) treatment industry. The legislation,...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
The federal government has demonstrated that it is more than willing to use the United States criminal code to prosecute home care agencies that pay unlawful financial inducements to generate referrals in violation of the...more
On July 16, 49 attorneys general (AGs) announced that they joined a $202 million settlement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Gilead). Previously announced by the Department of Justice in April, the settlement resolved allegations...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
The False Claims Act continues to be one of the most commonly used weapons in the government’s enforcement arsenal to address various forms of fraud. In addition to our “Year in Review” publication providing an overview of...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
The Trump administration recently announced the renewal of a new cross-agency collaboration between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the form of the DOJ-HHS False Claims...more
The health care industry – already bracing for the financial impact of Medicaid cuts – faces another hard truth: This administration isn’t slowing the pace of health care fraud enforcement. Rather, it’s doubling down on...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
Emphasizing its commitment to enforcing the False Claims Act (FCA) and combating health care fraud, the Trump Administration recently instituted a DOJ-HHS False Claims Act Working Group dedicated to “combating health care...more
New York AG Letitia James, along with a bipartisan coalition of 48 other AGs and in coordination with the U.S. DOJ, announced a $202 million settlement in principle with Gilead Sciences, Inc. (“Gilead”), to resolve...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
On June 30, 2025, New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James announced new lawsuits, criminal charges, and settlements with 25 New York transportation companies related to alleged schemes to defraud Medicaid of millions....more
Key Takeaways - First Appellate Interpretation of EKRA: The Ninth Circuit’s decision in United States v. Schena marks the first appellate court interpretation of the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA), affirming...more
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice have formed a False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement working group to target health care fraud. Our Health Care Litigation Group highlights what industry...more
On July 2, 2025, the Departments of Justice and Health & Human Services announced a joint working group aimed at “strengthening their ongoing collaboration to advance priority enforcement areas” under the False Claims Act...more