Chiding DOJ for “Inexcusable” Delay in Deciding to Intervene, Fifth Circuit Makes Notable Determinations on Materiality and Statute of Limitations
Chastising DOJ for asking eighteen times to extend the seal period, the Fifth Circuit recently held that due to its “dilatory conduct,” DOJ could not avail itself of the FCA’s […]
Provider Escapes, Contractor Remains in Qui Tam Alleging Noncompliance With Bad Debt Regs
Recently, the Seventh Circuit partially reversed a district court’s dismissal of a qui tam complaint alleging that debt collection agencies and their client hospital are liable under the FCA for […]
CBO Reports on Grassley Bill That Would Modify Escobar Materiality and Impose Rational Relation Test on Granston Dismissals
On July 15, 2022, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a cost estimate concerning the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021, a bill sponsored by Senator Grassley. The bill would […]
Court Concludes Government Agencies Cannot Categorize Regulatory Violations as Material as a Matter of Law
On January 7, 2022, a district court in the Western District of Kentucky dismissed DOJ’s implied false certification theory relating to allegedly medically unnecessary genetic tests, holding that the prosecutors […]
Analyzing FCA Materiality Defense Outcomes Under Escobar
Since the Supreme Court in Escobar stated that continued payment by the government is “very strong evidence” that the alleged violations are not “material” under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), […]
Allegations that Community Health Network Paid Doctors Above Fair Market Value and Rewarded Physician Referrals Survives Motion to Dismiss
This month the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana denied Community Health Network’s (“Community”) motion to dismiss the United States’ complaint-in-intervention alleging that Community submitted false claims […]
Split Seventh Circuit Panel Spars Over Escobar Interpretation
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently allowed a previously dismissed qui tam case to proceed against Molina Healthcare of Illinois (“Molina”). The suit, brought by […]
Finding No Materiality, Court Grants Summary Judgment for Defense in Fraudulent Inducement Case
On August 12, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota granted Boston Scientific Corporation’s (BSC) motion for summary judgment in relator Stephen Higgins’s declined qui tam, […]
D.C. Circuit Applies But-For Causation Standard, Weak Materiality Test to FCA Claims, While Concurrence Questions Viability of Fraudulent Inducement Theory
On July 6, 2021, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s dismissal of the qui tam suit against IBM in United […]