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
On Feb. 18, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit adopted the “but for” causality standard for violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) that give rise to violations of the federal False Claims Act...more
In a much-anticipated decision, the First Circuit unanimously ruled the government and relators must prove that a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) was the “but-for” cause of a false claim under the False...more
This is the fifth in our 2025 Year in Preview series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations in the coming year. We will be posting further installments in the series throughout the next several...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
On Monday, October 7, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider a petition for certiorari in United States ex rel. Hart v. McKesson Corp., Case No. 23-1293, where relator, Adam Hart (“Relator”), sought review of a...more
Hosted by American Conference Institute, the 11th Annual Advanced Forum on False Claims and Qui Tam Enforcement returns for another exciting year for lively discussions on FCA enforcement including the ramifications of two...more
On September 27, 2023, the Chief Judge of the District of Massachusetts decided that the standard in False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases premised on alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) is but-for causation....more
The Supreme Court issued a number of headline-grabbing decisions this term on topics like religious accommodation, LGBTQ protections, and consideration of race in college admissions. These decisions are wide-reaching and...more
In this post, we summarize noteworthy False Claims Act (FCA) decisions so far from 2023. Each of the three circuit court opinions discussed here ruled in favor of the defendants on different aspects of the FCA: the Sixth...more
In United States ex rel. Silver v. Omnicare, Inc., et al. (D.N.J. No. 11-cv-01326), a whistleblower relator consistently alleged that certain pharmaceutical service providers have engaged in an illegal kickback arrangement...more
The Situation: Manufacturers of allergenic extracts that are injected into a patient must obtain a Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approved license in order to ensure their products are safe for consumption. Until the...more
On January 14, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported its False Claims Act (FCA) statistics for fiscal year (FY) 2020. More than $2.2 billion was recovered from both settlements and judgments in 2020, the lowest...more
The Situation: The Supreme Court's ruling in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Escobar, 136 S. Ct. 1989 (2016), opened the door to more materiality defenses under the False Claims Act ("FCA"), but without making...more
Through a January 9, 2020, press release, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reported more than $3 billion in total recoveries from settlements and judgments from fraud-related civil matters brought under the False Claims Act...more
The “Granston Memo” has proven to be a boon again in 2019 for False Claims Act (“FCA”) defendants. In a January 15, 2019 Sheppard Mullin FCA Defense Blog article, we highlighted a growing movement by the Department of Justice...more
With more than 34.8 billion recovered by the government since 2010 under the federal False Claims Act, it has never been more crucial for private practitioners and corporate in-house counsel to keep abreast of the changes and...more
On June 18, the Third Circuit affirmed a District of Delaware decision dismissing a False Claims Act (FCA) case against Medco Health Solutions, Inc. because the relator was not an original source of the information underlying...more
Recently, Judge Timothy J. Savage of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said the government cannot simply exercise “unfettered discretion” to dismiss a qui tam action. See United States v. EMD...more
Perhaps the single most appropriate word to describe the current state of the civil and criminal healthcare fraud enforcement environment is uncertainty. From changes in personnel and policy at the highest levels of...more
In 2018, the volume of False Claims Act (FCA) litigation remained high, and health care-related qui tam (i.e., whistleblower) cases continued to lead the way. Using data compiled in the Mintz Health Care Qui Tam Database...more
The solicitor general filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court last month supporting the relators’ opposition to certiorari in Gilead Sciences, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Campie, et al., No. 17-936. Yet the...more
On November 30, 2018, the Solicitor General of the United States filed an amicus curiae brief in the closely watched False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit, Gilead Sciences Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Campie. In what appears to be an...more
The False Claims Act (“FCA”) permits a person, known as a “qui tam relator” (or more commonly, a “whistleblower”), to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the federal government when that person has information that a healthcare...more
A LOOK BACK... A LOOK AHEAD - While the uncertainty associated with legislative efforts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) dominated most of the headlines for the healthcare industry last year,...more
On January 19, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling granting summary judgment to a specialty pharmacy that was accused of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute and...more