Nate represents clients in all stages of complex civil disputes, from pre-suit negotiation through trial and appeal. He serves his clients with passion, sincerity, and creativity.
On November 21, 2019, the Second Circuit held that allegedly fraudulent loan requests presented to one or more of the Federal Reserve System’s twelve Federal Reserve Banks are “claims” within the meaning of the FCA. The court clarified that while personnel of those Federal Reserve Banks are not officers or employees of the United States, the Federal Reserve Banks themselves are agents of the United...
Within the last five years, district courts in the Seventh Circuit have repeatedly denied motions to dismiss qui tam lawsuits brought under the FCA that allege a scheme to defraud government health programs by reporting inflated “usual and customary” prices for prescription drugs. By contrast, at least one district court in the Sixth Circuit recently granted such a motion under Rule 9(b). On March 7,...
Until very recently, no case existed in which FCA liability arose from a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). But in United States v. America at Home Healthcare and Nursing Services, Ltd., Judge John Robert Blakely of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, allowed an FCA claim premised on a HIPAA violation to survive...
In United States ex rel. Keen v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., relator Janice Keen sued her former employer—the pharmaceutical company Teva—for violations of the FCA. According to Ms. Keen, Teva trained its sales force to misleadingly promote and sell a medicine used to treat muscle spasms. Ms. Keen alleged that Teva’s deceptive practices caused physicians to prescribe the medicine in situations for which it was...
A recent settlement illustrates the substantial recovery available to whistle-blowers under the FCA’s qui tam provisions. Those provisions allow a qui tam plaintiff to receive typically between 15 percent and 25 percent of the proceeds of an FCA settlement. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d). The settling party—Preferred Imaging—is a Dallas-based company that operates independent diagnostic facilities in Texas, Illinois, and Kansas. Preferred Imaging performs procedures involving the administration of contrast...
In an opinion issued earlier this month, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma refused to impose False Claims Act liability on a defendant who retained and invested his mother’s Social Security benefits after she went missing. The case adds to the growing body of law on the word “obligation” as it is used in the FCA; it also showcases the...
On August 21, 2015, the Justice Department announced that Sandia Corporation—owned by Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor—agreed to pay $4,790,042 to settle allegations that it violated the Byrd Amendment and the False Claims Act by using federal funds for lobbying activities. The settlement with Sandia is a recent example of the Justice Department’s willingness to use the Byrd Amendment as a hook for...
