Latest DOJ COVID Crackdown Features Another Defendant Accused of Abusing Telehealth Waivers
With its latest announcement this week of a criminal crackdown of 21 defendants for their alleged participation in various health care related fraud schemes, DOJ has underscored its commitment to […]
DOJ Settles FCA Case Alleging Medically Unnecessary Telehealth Visits, Claws Back PPP Money
This week DOJ announced one of the first civil settlements under the FCA involving abuse of the pandemic flexibilities that the Department of Health and Human Services used to authorize […]
11th Circuit Holds Eighth Amendment Applies to FCA Monetary Awards in Non-Intervened Cases
The Eleventh Circuit recently held that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines applies to monetary awards in non-intervened FCA actions—the first federal court of appeals directly to address the […]
DOJ Walks Back Recent Flexibilities for Corporate Resolutions
In a recent speech, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced three important updates to how DOJ attorneys are to approach corporate resolutions (as discussed further here). These changes depart from […]
District Court Rejects Anti-Kickback Statute Claim Due to “Conclusory” Assertions of Unlawful Intent
A court in the District of Maryland recently dismissed a declined qui tam action in which the relator, a bariatric surgeon, alleged that two medical device companies violated the AKS […]
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, […]
Seventh Circuit Affirms That Safeco “Objective Reasonableness” Standard Applies to FCA Claims; Finds It Was Objectively Reasonable for Defendants to Charge Government Retail Cash Prices Instead of Discount Program Prices
In a 2-1 decision, the Seventh Circuit joined the Third, Eighth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits in holding that the standard for “reckless disregard” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) […]
DC Circuit Clarifies Standard For Determining When A Relator Is Entitled To Recover Under FCA’s “Alternate Remedy” Provision
In an interesting opinion interpreting the FCA’s alternate remedy provision, the D.C. Circuit recently held that a relator who filed a False Claims Act (FCA) case that was ultimately settled […]
Fifth Circuit Affirms DOJ’s Broad Authority to Dismiss Qui Tams Over Relators’ Objections, but Adds Teeth to “Hearing” Requirement
On July 7, 2021, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of the United States’ motion to dismiss—over the relator’s objection—two qui tams that challenged pharmaceutical patient support programs. […]
DOJ Opposes Supreme Court Review of Granston Dismissal Standard
On May 21, 2021, the Department of Justice filed a brief in opposition to a petition for writ of certiorari filed by the relator in U.S. ex rel. Cimznhca, LLC […]