Category: False Statement

Supreme Court Declines to Resolve Circuit Split Regarding Standard for “Falsity” in FCA Claims

On February 22, 2021, the United States Supreme Court declined to resolve a circuit split regarding the proper standard under which False Claims Act (“FCA”) claims in the medical context should be reviewed. See Care Alternatives v. United States, No. 20-371, 2021 U.S. LEXIS 915 (Feb. 22, 2021). The Court’s decision leaves open the question of what constitutes “falsity” under the FCA and opens the...

$145 Million Settlement Shows the Depth of Government’s Effort to Combat Opioid Crisis and its Interest in Fraud Actions Against Electronic Health Records Companies

Less than a year after United States Attorney Christina E. Nolan warned electronic health records (“EHR”) companies in a DOJ press release that they “should consider themselves on notice” following a $57.25 million FCA settlement with EHR software developer Greenway Health LLC, the DOJ announced in a recent press release a $145 million settlement with another EHR vendor, Practice Fusion, Inc.  The settlement includes $26...

DOJ’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force Priorities Highlighted By Bid-Rigging Qui Tam Settlement

In an article published late last year, Dorsey reported on the Department of Justice’s announcement regarding the formation of a new Procurement Collusion Strike Force.  The Strike Force focuses on the nexus between antitrust and public procurement, with the stated aim of targeting antitrust crimes “such as bid-rigging conspiracies and related fraudulent schemes.”  If there was any question whether DOJ was serious about targeting such...

Another Qui Tam Suit Alleging a Scheme to Defraud by Reporting Inflated Drug Prices Survives Motion to Dismiss

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,...

Third Circuit: False Claims Act Liability Premised on an Anti-Kickback Statute Violation Requires Proof that at Least One Federal Claim Resulted from an Improper Referral or Recommendation

Federal scrutiny of charities that assist patients with accessing prescription drugs has increased with rising prescription drug prices.  Some prescription drug charities receive funding from medical providers or drug manufacturers, which can raise questions about whether the charities’ funders are using the charities to generate improper recommendations or referrals. In December 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General rescinded a...

Two Recent Justice Department Memoranda May Have Significant Consequences for Pending and Future False Claims Act Enforcement

In recent weeks, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued two memoranda that might change the calculus of False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases.  The memoranda at a minimum provide organizations with new—or at least invigorated—defenses to qui tam actions and civil enforcement matters. First, on January 10, Michael Granston, Director of DOJ’s Civil Frauds section, issued a memorandum encouraging DOJ trial attorneys to consider dismissing...

Eighth Circuit Rejects Sovereign Immunity Defense to FCA Qui Tam Action

Last month the Eighth Circuit considered and rejected an Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity defense to a qui tam action under the False Claims Act.  In United States ex rel. Fields v. Bi-State Development Agency, No. 16-3783, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 13925 (8th Cir. August 1, 2017), a former employee of Bi-State alleged that the defendant interstate compact entity raised funds and required its employees to...

Supreme Court Applies Escobar to Reinstate Implied Certification Suit Against Bank Based on Compliance With Fed Rules

On Tuesday, February 21, 2017, the Supreme Court summarily vacated the judgment in Bishop v. Wells Fargo & Co. and remanded the case to the Second Circuit in light of the Court’s recent decision in Universal Health Servs. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, which recognized the implied certification liability theory in FCA suits. In Bishop, the plaintiffs originally brought FCA claims against Wells Fargo,...

Alleging Improper Use of Funds Legitimately Obtained from the Government Insufficient to State FCA Retaliation Claim

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has dismissed an FCA retaliation claim brought by a nurse who claimed to have blown the whistle on misuse of funds at a hospital that received significant federal revenue. In Endicott v. Oakbend Medical Center, the nurse alleged she was fired after she complained that several hospital executives were using hospital employee time to enrich...

Northern District of Illinois Dismisses Whistleblower’s FCA Suit for Failing to Connect Allegations of Misconduct with Submission of False Claims

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...