False Claims Act Insights - Are the FCA’s Qui Tam Provisions Unconstitutional? One Federal Judge Says “Yes"
False Claims Act Insights - Assessing the Fallout from a Thermonuclear FCA Verdict
FCA Uncovered: Mitigating Risk in the Regulatory Spotlight — Regulatory Oversight Podcast
False Claims Act Insights - Think You Know Whistleblowers? Think Again.
Fraud and Abuse Enforcement Priorities in the Wake of COVID-19 - Diagnosing Health Care Podcast
At the end of May, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the formation of a Civil Rights Fraud Initiative to “utilize the False Claims Act to investigate and, as appropriate, pursue claims against any recipient of federal...more
It has long been the law of the Eleventh Circuit that, under the False Claims Act (FCA) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b), a relator must provide sufficient “indicia of reliability … to support the allegation of an...more
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division launched its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program (“Criminal Whistleblower Program”) in August of 2024 to encourage tips for various types of fraud, including...more
Over the last 15 years, private equity (“PE”) firms have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the healthcare sector, infiltrating every corner of the industry from emergency rooms and labs to billing providers and...more
Whistleblowers filed 979 qui tam lawsuits under the False Claims Act (FCA) in Fiscal Year 2024—the highest number in a single year and 35% more than in the prior year—the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced. Overall,...more
On January 15, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual report on civil fraud recoveries for FY2024 along with a press release highlighting DOJ’s civil enforcement efforts....more
In a significant ruling, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently expanded the scope of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).The Court joined other circuit courts across the country in adopting, for the first time, the...more
There was a noteworthy False Claims Act (FCA) settlement made public yesterday out of the Eastern District of California involving Oroville Hospital. The government accused the Hospital of submitting false claims to Medicare...more
For the first time ever, a judge has ruled that the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act (FCA), which whistleblowers have used to recover $52 billion on behalf of the government since 1986, is unconstitutional....more
In a prior blog, PilieroMazza discussed the Supreme Court’s decision in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. In that case, in his dissenting opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas referred to the qui...more
Yesterday, a federal district court in the Middle District of Florida issued a decision that threatens the federal government’s continued reliance on the False Claims Act (“FCA”) as the most powerful weapon in the Department...more
The False Claims Act (FCA) permits private individuals to bring lawsuits in the name of the United States—called qui tam—against those they believe have defrauded the federal government: 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b). The FCA thereby...more
On March 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an important decision that sheds light on the test for determining scienter under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). The Second Circuit reasoned that...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
On February 22, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual report of civil fraud recoveries for FY2023, along with a press release highlighting DOJ’s civil enforcement efforts. Our top ten observations from...more
On November 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the service-of-process clock for a False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam complaint begins to run when the district court orders the complaint to be served,...more
The False Claims Act (FCA) saw quite a bit of action at the Supreme Court in its most recent completed term. In this fourth and final installment of PilieroMazza’s blog series “The FCA at the Supreme Court,” we examine active...more
Below are noteworthy False Claims Act (FCA) decisions from the third quarter of 2023. The main issues in the cases are: Materiality. The Fourth Circuit held that a pharmacist’s efforts to falsify patient eligibility...more
After a substantial jury verdict following a lengthy trial, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declined to accept the defendants’ invitation to throw out the government’s complaint in intervention as a...more
On June 16, 2023, the Supreme Court (the “Court”) in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources affirmed the federal government’s power to dismiss a False Claims Act (“FCA”) action brought under the qui tam...more
On Friday, June 16, 2023, I (sort of) lost my bet that the Supreme Court would follow the path charted in Borzilleri v. Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, 24 F.4th 32 (1st Cir. 2022) to determine the government’s False Claims...more
On June 16, 2023, the Supreme Court in United States ex rel. Polanksy v. Executive Health Resources, affirmed the Third Circuit’s deferential standard regarding the government’s ability to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA)...more
On June 16, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the DOJ properly secured a dismissal of a whistleblower suit accusing Executive Health Resources Inc. of violating the False Claims Act by improperly billing Medicare....more
On June 16, 2023, in United States, ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., the US Supreme Court addressed the government’s authority to dismiss a qui tam False Claims Act (FCA) suit over a relator’s objection...more
The False Claims Act's ("FCA") use of qui tam relators (private individuals bringing suit on behalf of the government) has long raised both procedural and substantive challenges....more