Court Rejects Application of the Public Disclosure Bar Due to DOJ’s Opposition
On January 24, 2023, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied a motion to dismiss a qui tam suit premised on Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) allegations, explaining that it could not dismiss the case because DOJ and several interested states had filed oppositions to application of the public disclosure bar. See United States ex rel. Marcus v. BioTek Labs, LLC, No. 8:18-cv-2915 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 24, 2023).
Ninth Circuit Construes Post-2010 Public Disclosure Bar to Include Facts Disclosed During a Patent Office Patent Prosecution
In United States ex rel. Silbersher v. Allergan, Inc., 2022 WL 3652967 (9th Cir. Aug. 26, 2022), the Ninth Circuit ruled that the FCA public disclosure bar, as amended in 2010, encompasses information provided to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (“PTO”) during a patent prosecution. Accordingly, a qui tam action premised entirely on materials obtained from PTO records is barred.
Massachusetts High Court Adopts Broad Reading of Commonwealth’s Public Disclosure Bar
In a May 2021 decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) affirmed the dismissal of a Massachusetts False Claims Act (“MFCA”) suit on the grounds that it was barred by the MFCA’s public disclosure bar. The suit, brought by relator Johan Rosenberg (“Relator”), alleged that Defendant banks conspired to engage in fraud in connection with resetting interest rates for certain municipal bonds known as “variable rate debt obligations” or VRDOs.
Ninth Circuit Invited To Weigh In On Public Disclosure Bar, Falsity
On October 8, 2019, a judge in the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted a stay and certified two questions for interlocutory appeal in relator Integra Med Analytics’ FCA suit against Providence Health & Services (“Providence”), its affiliates, and J.A. Thomas and Associates, Inc. (“JATA”), a clinical documentation consultant. The case, on which we have previously reported here, involves allegations that Providence perpetrated an upcoding scheme whereby it trained its doctors to describe medical conditions with language that would support increasing the severity levels of the DRGs that Providence reported to Medicare, leading to inflated Medicare reimbursements.
The Illinois False Claims Act: Key Provisions and Current Trends
On August 23, 2019, Bloomberg Law published an article by Kathleen Carlson and Suzanne Notton of Sidley Austin discussing key provisions of the Illinois False Claims Act and recent trends in Illinois False Claims Act case law. This article is the first in a series of articles addressing the False Claims Acts of states that see relatively frequent state FCA lawsuits. In addition to Illinois, these states include California, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York. A copy of the article can be downloaded here.
Court Establishes a Test to Determine the Scope of the FCA’s “News Media” Provision
On July 16, 2019, the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss a declined FCA suit against defendants Providence Health & Services (“Providence”), its affiliates, and J.A. Thomas and Associates, Inc. (“JATA”), a clinical documentation consultant. The suit alleges that Providence perpetrated an upcoding scheme whereby it trained its doctors to describe medical conditions with language that would support increasing the severity levels of the DRGs that Providence reported to Medicare, leading to inflated Medicare reimbursements.
Recent Illinois Appellate Court Decision Applies Narrow Interpretation of Public Disclosure Bar
In a recent decision, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the dismissal of a complaint brought pursuant to the Illinois False Claims Act (the “IFCA”). The circuit court had held that relators satisfied the public disclosure bar because their claims were not substantially the same as publicly disclosed allegations or transactions, but that relators had failed to plead their claim with specificity. The First District agreed with the circuit court’s ruling regarding the public disclosure bar, but found that the circuit court had erred in holding that relators had failed to state a claim. This decision is the third Illinois Appellate Court decision in the last thirteen months reversing dismissals of IFCA actions (see People ex rel. Lindblom v. Sears Brands, LLC et al., No. 1-17-1468 (Ill. App. Ct), and Phone Recovery Services of Illinois, LLC ex rel. State of Illinois v. Ameritech Illinois Metro, Inc. et al., No. 1-17-0968 (Ill. App. Ct.)), and the language used by the court reflects a high threshold for dismissal.
Seventh Circuit Holds That 2009 CMS Letter Triggered Public Disclosure Bar for Pre- and Post-Letter Conduct
On August 8, 2017, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an FCA suit alleging that a psychiatric hospital (“Hartgrove”) submitted claims to Medicaid despite maintaining a higher patient census than Hartgrove was licensed to maintain, providing some important clarification on the scope of the public disclosure bar. (more…)
Fifth Circuit Affirms Defense Verdict and Dismissals of Off-Label FCA Claims
Last week, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a defense verdict and the earlier dismissal of several False Claims Act claims related to the alleged off-label use and Medicare reimbursement of medical stents. The decision includes several significant rulings for FCA defendants, particularly in the Fifth Circuit. First, the court affirmed the dismissal of an anti-kickback claim because the relator had “[n]o particulars [to] show that the unidentified doctors who received the ill-defined benefits caused the hospital to use Abbott stents” and thus “never link[ed] the alleged carrots to the purchase and use of the stents at either of the hospitals.” Slip op. 6. The need to plead details showing such a “link[]” – or causation – is important. (more…)
Ninth Circuit Affirms Broad Reach of Public Disclosure Bar
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirms the real challenges the public disclosure bar can pose to whistleblowers. In Amphastar Pharms. Inc. v. Aventis Pharma SA, No. 5:09-cv-00023-MJG-OP, 2017 WL 1947890 (C.D. Cal. May 11, 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a California federal judge’s dismissal of a False Claims Act suit by Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Amphastar”) alleging the government overpaid for a blood thinner that was improperly patented, finding that the allegations were already public. (more…)
