First Circuit Joins Circuit Split on FCA Dismissal Authority, Finds Government Has Broad Authority to Dismiss FCA Cases

On January 21, 2022, the First Circuit affirmed the government’s request for dismissal of a whistleblower complaint alleging that several pharmaceutical companies had colluded to defraud Medicare Part D. The government, after declining to intervene, requested dismissal based on its finding that: (1) the suit would require “substantial expenditure of government resources”; (2) “many key aspects of [the relator’s] allegations [we]re not supported”; and (3) “allegations that [the relator] used the qui tam process to leverage his financial interests through securities trading .  . . convince[d] the [g]overnment that [the relator was] not an appropriate advocate of the United States’ interests.” (more…)