Written by David B. Honig and Ritu Kaur Cooper. On February 3, 2015, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that disclosures to the public officials responsible for managing the subject of a False Claims Act lawsuit did not qualify as “public disclosures” for the purpose of the FCA’s public disclosure bar. US... Continue Reading →Tags: audit, Bank of Farmington, compliance, David B. Honig, False Claims Act, FCA, Graham County, original source, public disclosure, qui tam, Rita Kaur Cooper, self-disclosure, whistleblower
with Drew B. Howk On Monday, February 2, well-respected Federal District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff awarded costs to the prevailing Defendant in US ex rel. Associates Against Outlier Fraud v. Huron Consulting, Case No. 09 Civ. 1800(JSR). The case had a long history. The Complaint was originally filed in February 2009. It... Continue Reading →Tags: costs, expenses, False Claims Act, FCA, fees, Huron Consulting, Rakoff
Written by David B. Honig and Steven H. Pratt. On February 2, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on a case from the Southern District of Ohio, US ex rel American Systems Consulting, Inc. v Mantech Advanced Systems International. At issue was whether a court may determine whether a knowingly false... Continue Reading →Tags: Colorado, DITCO, False Claims Act, FCA, healthcare, ManTech, materiality, Medicaid, Medicare, RFP
Relator Thulin was a pharmacist in Idaho working for Shopko, a Wisconsin company. He filed an FCA claim alleging Shopko defrauded Medicaid by failing to pass along private insurance plan prices to Medicaid for dual-eligible patients. The court rejected Shopko’s claim, affirming the trial court’s grant of a motion to... Continue Reading →Tags: assignment, False Claims Act, FCA, Medicaid, pharmacy, Shopko, Thulin
Last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its unpublished ruling in US ex rel. Mastej v. Health Management Associates, Inc. At issue was whether the relator’s Third Amended Complaint adequately pled fraud with particularity, as required by Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 9(b). Mastej was an Health Management Associate (“HMA”) executive from 2001 to... Continue Reading →Tags: 11th Circuit, 9(b), AKS, Anti-Kickback, Eleventh Circuit, False Claims Act, FCA, fraud with particularity, Health Management Systems, HMS, Mastej, Stark
In a new case from the Southern District of Ohio, US_v_MillenniumRadiology, the court denied a motion to dismiss a False Claims Act suit, finding that compliance with a safe harbor could only be raised on summary judgment. The court also found that uncompensated service as a medical director could form the basis... Continue Reading →Tags: AKS, Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, FCA, hospital, Medical Director, radiology, safe harbor
From October 1 through October 12, 2014, there were 14 federal cases reported that mentioned the False Claims Act. One was previously discussed in the September 2014 FCA Update. Eight more only tangentially discussed the False Claims Act. Five cases might be of interest to parties and counsel in a False... Continue Reading →Tags: attorney, Boeing, Cephalon, Cestra, conspiracy, deposition, FAA, False Claims Act, FCA, first to file, fraud with particularity, Graves, individual defendants, jurisdiction, Kelly, May, Plaza Medical Centers, privilege, Purdue Pharma, regulatory compliance, Serco, Smith, specific claims
US ex rel Graves v Plaza Medical Centers Corp Case No. 10-23382-CIV-MORENO (S.D.Fla. Oct. 8, 2014) Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss for failure to plead fraud with particularity. The trial court dismissed without prejudice, finding: While Relator alleged specific conduct as to 28 patients, it did not offer a... Continue Reading →Tags: actual claim, conspiracy, False Claims Act, FCA, fraud with particularity, Graves, individual defendants, motion to dismiss, Plaza Medical Centers, specific allegations
US ex rel Smith v Boeing Case No. 05-1073-MLB (D.Kansas Oct. 8, 2014) The court granted Boeing’s motion for summary judgment, finding that there were reasonable conflicting interpretations of the contract’s requirements, undermining any claim of knowing false certification, and that the FAA had specifically investigated and rejected Relator’s interpretations.... Continue Reading →Tags: Boeing, expertise, FAA, False Claims Act, FCA, interpretations, Regulations, Smith, summary judgment
US ex rel Kelly v Serco Case no. 11cv2975 /WQH-RBB (S.D.Cal. Oct. 6, 2014) Relator alleged the Defendant failed to follow government time and cost reporting requirements. The court found that Defendant impliedly certified compliance with certain regulations. However, the court found that the regulations, which applied to the Department... Continue Reading →Tags: Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, False Claims Act, FCA, implied certification, Kelly, Regulations, Serco, summary judgment