— False Claims Act defense attorneys have been warning government contractors, particularly Medicare and Medicaid providers, of increased risks and a reduced ability to defend against whistleblower complaints since the passage of the Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act of 2009 (“FERA”). The greatest risk comes from FERA’s addition of a new... Continue Reading →Tags: False Claims Act, FCA, Keltner, Lakeshore, Milwaukee, overpayment, qui tam, retained, whistleblower, Wisconsin
Appellate Court Cases Three appellate-level FCA cases were reported in January and February 2013. Only one, U.S. ex rel. Nathan v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., 1 was selected for publication. All three cases addressed Rule 9(b)’s requirement that allegations of fraud be lead “with particularity.” The cases, read together,... Continue Reading →Tags: Abbott, Bender, Conn, Conrad, Deck, False Claims Act, FCA, Griffith, Jajdelski, Kaplan, Miami Jacobs, Nathan, North American Communications, qui tam, relator, Takeda, whistleblower
February was an interesting month, with one case showing how OIG advisory opinions can be taken too far, another considering fraud under a corporate integrity agreement, and a court applying burden-shifting for the first time at the appellate level in FCA retaliation cases. Cases reviewed from February are: US ex rel.... Continue Reading →Tags: advisory opinion, Aggregate Industries, Bell Constructors, Boggs, Bright Smile, caselaw, False Claims Act, fraud with particularity, Harrington, Klein, Klusmeier, law, legal, Matheny, Medco, OIG, qui tam, relator, retaliation, update, whistleblower
What must a successful FCA defendant show to collect attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justic Act? Can an error by the government create an FCA violation by a defendant relying upon the government’s acts? Does Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. US ex rel. Stevens apply to FCA... Continue Reading →Tags: Comstock, EAJA, Equal Access, False Claims Act, FCA, Fox, Huang, immunity, lease, Pecore, person, pro se, qui tam, real party in interest, relator, retaliation, Select Medical, Stevens, Thouvenot, Villaspring, whistleblower, worthless, Wright
Can an incompetent, and ultimately dismissed, False Claims Act Complaint bar a future complaint under the FCA’s “first to file rule?” The Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. answered the question for the first time on November 4, 2011. Can a settlement agreement between an employer and an employee force... Continue Reading →Tags: 2011, AARS, Batiste, Cancio, CDC, Chicago, Compass Medical, D.C., dialysis, District of Columbia, False Claims Act, FCA, Foglia, fraud in the inducement, Glynn, Massachusetts, New Jersey, November, Ohio, qui tam, relator, Renal Ventures, Ruble, Scott, seal, settlement agreement, Skidmore, SLM Corporation, Tampa, whistleblower, Wildhirt
The Federal District Court in the Southern District of Illinois granted summary judgment against a whistleblower, and in favor of the Defendant, in a case filed against an Effingham, Illinois urologist. The whistleblower alleged the doctor billed for services provided by his staff, under his supervision, when he was not... Continue Reading →Tags: dismissal, dismissed, Effingham, False Claims Act, Illinois, qui tam, relator, southern district, summary judgment, urologist, whistleblower
In an interesting case, a whistleblower stipulated to the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, in effect agreeing that the Court could dismiss his False Claims Act case against a hospital as unsupported by the facts. In U.S. ex rel. Camillo v. Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital, a case set in East... Continue Reading →Tags: Camillo, dismissed, East St. Louis, False Claims Act, qui tam, summary judgment, whistleblower
On April 7, 2004, we told you about the Northern District of Illinois’ dismissal of a whistleblower’s case against Catholic Health Partners. On July 6, 2005, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal with prejudice. The appellate court found that the whistleblower did not show that any action... Continue Reading →Tags: dismissal, False Claims Act, fraud with particularity, jurisdiction, material, materiality, motion to dismiss, original source, qui tam, relator, Rule 9(b), whistleblower
Today the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of an Alabama whistleblower in a case against a hospital in Mobile. We first told you about the case when it was dismissed by the trial court. It was an unusual case to reach all the way to the... Continue Reading →Tags: certiorari, denied, dismissed, False Claims Act, fraud with particularity, materiality, qui tam, relator, whistleblower
In January we told you about the dismissal of a whistleblower’s lawsuit against a hospital in Mobile, Alabama. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in Atlanta, Georgia, affirmed the dismissal today, finding that the whistleblower’s claim lacked the required specificity and that his suspicions, even if proven true, would not... Continue Reading →Tags: 11th Circuit, affirmed, alabama, Atlanta, dismissed, False Claims Act, Mobile, qui tam, relator, whistleblower