Articles and Blogs

The Sixth Circuit closed out 2020 with a decision that contains a warning for litigators to make sure they’re asking for an enumerated remedy under the Federal Arbitration Action (“FAA”)[1] to preserve the option of an interlocutory appeal.[2] Case Background Paul Dorsa initially filed a qui tam action under the False Claims Act (“FCA”)... READ MORE

On January 19, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Hickman v. Spirit of Athens[1] dismissed a whistleblower retaliation claim under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), finding that the employer’s alleged “garden-variety fraud” did not fall under the statute. Two employees of a nonprofit were terminated after seeking to audit... READ MORE

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced that the United States recovered over $2.2 billion from False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases in the federal fiscal year 2020. While this is a decrease from the previous year’s recoveries, and likely related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the most recent figures are still on par with DOJ... READ MORE

As illustrated by two recent cases, there has been an uptick in Government enforcement action related to pharmaceutical manufacturer donations to patient assistance funds designed to assist patients with copay obligations. Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit in which the... READ MORE

The First Circuit ruled that an employer would not have acted against a whistleblower ‘but for’ their engaging in conduct the FCA protects. It joined other circuits that have found the FCA’s statutory protections much like other federal employment statutes. Background In this case[1], the Defendant is a medical device company that had several... READ MORE

In health care, actions under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) typically allege conduct that is knowingly in violation of one or more of Medicare’s conditions of payment—part of an amorphous contract between a government agency and a provider—that results in a fraudulently obtained overpayment to the provider for services rendered. Last week, the Ninth... READ MORE

The United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, recently issued an opinion reaffirming the need for counsel in qui tam cases under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). In particular, pro se plaintiffs, or individuals proceeding without attorney representation, filed suit against multiple defendants alleging qui tam claims under the FCA as well as 21... READ MORE

A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the sometimes hostile relationship between the government and the whistleblowers it relies on to prosecute False Claims Act (“FCA”) actions. The resulting opinion was twofold: If the government wants to dictate FCA litigation it must intervene in the lawsuit; and The government has... READ MORE

On July 8, 2020, the Department of Justice announced it settled a qui tam action[1] involving alleged violations of the federal and state False Claims Act (“FCA”) for $72.3 million against an Oklahoma surgical specialty hospital, its managers, a physician group and two individual physicians. Part of the factual allegations underpinning the FCA claims... READ MORE

On June 19, 2020, the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) announced its Final Rule[1] increasing the penalties assessable under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The DOJ raised the minimum penalty for a single false claim from $11,181 to $11,665; the maximum penalty from $22,363 to $23,331. Under the False Claims Act,[2] any person who... READ MORE