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
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
Whenever there is a pot of money up for grabs, people will inevitably want more than their fair share. And when that money is doled out through government contracts, opportunities for fraud abound. The government can...more
A recent federal court decision has the potential to significantly impact the future of False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuits initiated by whistleblowers and to upend the FCA. In United States of America ex rel. Clarissa Zafirov v....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
On September 30, 2024, in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates LLC, Judge Kathryn Mizelle in the Middle District of Florida dismissed a qui tam action under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) on the basis that the...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
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 June 16, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its second opinion on the False Claims Act (the FCA or the Act) during this term of the Court. The Court held that the Department of Justice has broad, but not unfettered, authority...more
On June 16, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, a closely watched case about the government’s power to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam lawsuit over a...more
What does it mean to “knowingly” or “recklessly” violate the law when that law consists of highly complex and ever-changing regulations, which may be open to interpretation? The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review...more
Government, industry and outside counsel convened in New York June 22-23 at ACI’s Advanced Forum on False Claims and Qui Tam Enforcement to discuss recent trends in False Claims Act (FCA) case law and enforcement priorities....more
Liability under the False Claims Act can result in potentially enormous payouts to individuals — and sometimes to companies — who alert the government to allegations of health care fraud. The payouts to the whistleblower...more
As American industry moves toward building back better in the face of a continuing pandemic, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., have introduced the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021, proposing revisions...more
In late March, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit revived a whistleblower lawsuit under the False Claims Act (FCA) in which a former employee accused a healthcare provider of submitting reimbursement...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled last week that whistleblower relators need not show “objective falsity” to prove their claims, and that a dispute among physician experts about a clinical...more
“Enforcing the False Claims Act is a top priority for the Department—not just for our office,” said Deputy Associate Attorney General Stephen Cox, the Keynote Speaker for the 2020 Advanced Forum on False Claims and Qui Tam...more
Key Points: - False Claims Act plaintiff cannot use discovery to satisfy Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b). - Payment of fair market value is a dispositive defense in FCA actions alleging a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. ...more
The new numbers – published in DOJ’s annual False Claims Act recoveries statistics for Fiscal Year 2019 – brings FCA recoveries since FY 1987 (the year after Congress amended the FCA to incentivize whistleblowers further to...more
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the predictions of the False Claims Act's demise were greatly exaggerated. The United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") recently announced that it recovered more than $3 billion in settlements and...more
On July 19, 2019, Myriad Genetics disclosed a $9.1 million settlement agreement to resolve a False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam lawsuit alleging that it engaged in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for certain hereditary...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
A Civil Investigative Demand, often referred to as a “CID,” is a pre-litigation mechanism used to collect information and evidence for use in civil false claims act and other investigations. ...more
Hospitals and other providers should take note of a recent federal court ruling that green-lighted a whistleblower suit against MedStar Health Inc. brought by a former employee who alleged that the health care system billed...more
Overview of Qui Tam Activity - We identified 49 health care-related qui tam cases that were unsealed in September and October 2018. The government intervened in whole or in part in 10 of those 49 unsealed cases, which...more