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
On May 23, 2025, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed the Human Services omnibus policy bill into law, which included in part, the addition of a new statutory provision in the state’s criminal code, Chapter 609....more
Prescription drug fraud has long been a focus for government regulators, but it has taken on new significance in the wake of America’s opioid crisis. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human...more
Telemedicine companies are supposed to facilitate medically necessary services to beneficiaries over the telephone via licensed medical professionals. In reality, however, many of these “telemedicine companies” are...more
Georgia Laboratory Owner Pleads Guilty to Felony Anti-Kickback Statute Violations - On February 28, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the guilty plea of Andrew Maloney, who, along with his clinical laboratory...more
On March 29, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release announcing three related civil settlements totaling over $69 million with Covenant Healthcare System and two physicians—Dr. Mark Adams, a neurosurgeon,...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced two settlement agreements, both involving durable medical equipment (“DME”) companies, following allegations that the companies had violated the Anti-Kickback...more
Lens Manufacturer Agrees To Pay $16.4 Million To Resolve Alleged Violations of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute - Essilor International, Essilor of America, Inc., Essilor Laboratories of America Inc., and...more
The following is a summary of the federal Health and Human Services agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports of fraud and abuse enforcement activity across the country. The enforcement actions reported are based...more
The Department of Justice announced in a February 1, 2022 press release (Press Release) that it obtained more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims in the fiscal year...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Flower Mound Hospital Partners LLC, a partially physician-owned hospital in Flower Mound, Texas, agreed to pay $18.2 million to settle its alleged violations of the False...more
Pharmaceutical Company Agrees to Pay $12.6 Million to Settle FCA Allegations Involving Kickbacks - On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced a $12.6 million settlement with Incyte Corporation, a Delaware...more
For the past two years, telemedicine companies, durable medical equipment suppliers, pharmacies, and individuals and entities that market to such entities have been at the center of DOJ gunsights. In 2019, the Department...more
William F. Gould In United States v. Merino, No. 19-50291, 2021 WL 754589 (9th Cir. Feb. 26, 2021), the court of appeals reversed the conviction of Marina Merino of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in violation of 18...more
On March 31, 2021, in United States ex rel. Felten v. William Beaumont Hospital, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer’s allegedly retaliatory conduct directed at an employee after the employee’s...more
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) published a Special Fraud Alert on November 16, 2020 (the Alert) regarding a common practice within the pharmaceutical and medical device...more
Medical device maker Merit Medical Systems (“MMS”) agreed to pay $18 million to resolve allegations that the company submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE by paying kickbacks to physicians and hospitals to...more
Acute Care Hospital Agrees to Pay $50 Million to Settle Alleged Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute Violations - On September 9, 2020, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that Wheeling Hospital Inc. (“Wheeling...more
Boston Heart Diagnostics, a Massachusetts company, agree to pay $26.7 million to settle a False Claims Act case involving allegations of paying illegal kickbacks to physicians....more
Defense Vehicle Manufacturer Accused of Defrauding the Government by $1.2 Billion - On Tuesday, December 3, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed a six-year-old False Claims Act complaint...more
• Life sciences companies are subject to rapidly changing regulatory obligations, government enforcement, and increasing public scrutiny. • Conducting effective legal and regulatory due diligence can mean uncovering risks...more
In October 2018, the President signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, a portion of which is known as the “Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018” or “EKRA.” EKRA, aimed at the ongoing opioid crisis, is...more
“Eliminating Kick-Backs and Recovery Act of 2018” (EKRA) is a part of a group of laws recently passed by Congress to expand the law enforcement spectrum available to fight the opioid epidemic. EKRA is part of approximately 70...more
Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced its largest ever national health care fraud takedown, resulting in charges against 601 diverse defendants including...more