In early March 2024 at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa Monaco’s keynote remarks previewed the development of new and significant Department of...more
3/21/2024
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Healthcare ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
Like most industries, the health care sector is grappling with the uses of artificial intelligence (AI) and what AI means for the future. At the same time, many health care companies already have integrated algorithms and AI...more
2/13/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Technology ,
Healthcare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Natural Language Processing ,
Popular ,
Qui Tam ,
Whistleblowers
Medicare Advantage (also known as Medicare Part C) remains a top enforcement priority as evidenced by False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and litigation involving nearly all large Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs). As...more
2/12/2024
/ Beneficiaries ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Mining ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) ,
OIG
A recent Massachusetts Federal District Court decision adds to divergent opinions deciding an important health care enforcement question: what causation standard applies to a False Claims Act (FCA) case based on a violation...more
On March 28, 2023, the Sixth Circuit issued an important False Claims Act (“FCA”) decision in U.S. ex rel. Shannon Martin, et al. v. Darren Hathaway, et al., No. 22-1463, which (1) adopted a “but-for” causation standard for...more
Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) remained a top enforcement priority in 2022, and Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) are the subject of intense scrutiny by the Department of Justice (DOJ); the Office of Inspector...more
The Supreme Court recently denied petitions for writs of certiorari in three closely watched cases where parties asked the Court to clarify the heightened pleading standard governing fraud allegations under the False Claims...more
STATISTICAL TRENDS IN FALSE CLAIMS ACT LITIGATION -
FCA case activity for 2021 reveals seemingly contrary trends. For the federal fiscal year (FY) that ended September 30, 2021, the DOJ annual report on FCA enforcement...more
2/11/2022
/ Clinical Trials ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Qui Tam ,
Telehealth
Last week, a bipartisan group of Senators led by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced two pieces of proposed legislation, one of which would amend the False Claims Act (FCA) and the other of which would amend the...more
Leading up to a webinar on July 15, 2020, we are publishing a blog series covering the risks of enforcement against companies that received COVID-19 relief funds under the CARES Act and strategies for mitigating these risks....more
7/6/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Natural Disasters ,
OIG ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently filed suit against Anthem, Inc. (Anthem) alleging that the Medicare Advantage Organization (MAO) violated the False Claims Act (FCA) when it knowingly failed to delete inaccurate...more
As many of our readers know, the AseraCare case was closely watched over the last several years because of its significance to efforts by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to allege that submission of claims for services...more
As discussed in our article recently published by Law360, 2019 brought yet another year of robust health care enforcement activity, and the False Claims Act (FCA) remains the government’s most powerful civil health care...more
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued its long-awaited and closely watched decision in United States v. AseraCare Inc.. The court ruled that a claim cannot be deemed false under the False Claims...more
9/12/2019
/ Defense Strategies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hospice ,
Medical Necessity ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Physicians ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Remand ,
Sua Sponte
As part of our ongoing discussion of the Polukoff False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam case (involving allegations that certain heart procedures performed by a cardiologist, and billed for by two hospital defendants, were not...more
5/10/2019
/ Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Article II ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FRCP 9(b) ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Pleading Standards ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Reversal
The Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari last Monday in U.S. ex rel. Prather v. Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., No. 17-5826 (6th Cir. June 11, 2018), again declining to revisit or clarify the False Claims...more
As in years past, the False Claims Act (FCA) remained a powerful health care enforcement tool in 2018, and FCA investigations and litigation persisted, fueled mainly by hundreds of lawsuits filed annually by relators,...more
1/16/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Gilead Sciences Inc v United States ex rel Campie ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Solicitor General ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar
Last year, as we previously discussed, there were two significant Department of Justice (DOJ) policy developments that are applicable to False Claims Act (FCA) litigation: (1) the “Granston Memo” (issued by DOJ Civil Fraud...more
1/14/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hospitals ,
Kickbacks ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court on November 30, 2018 in a closely watched False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit, after the Supreme Court asked for the Solicitor...more
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a significant decision, finding that a physician’s medical judgment about the medical necessity of heart procedures can be “false or fraudulent” under the federal False Claims Act...more
7/16/2018
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Health Care Providers ,
Local Coverage Determination (LCD) ,
Medical Necessity ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Objective Falsity ,
Physicians ,
Qui Tam
In a closely watched False Claims Act (“FCA”) case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has an unreviewable right to object to a proposed settlement agreement between a relator...more
The civil monetary penalties for violations of myriad health care laws continue to rise. In June, we discussed the enormous increase in penalties under the federal False Claims Act (“FCA”). Through an interim final rule, the...more
Since our last issue, we have identified 31 recently unsealed health care-related whistleblower cases. In this Qui Tam Update, we analyze the trends and take an in-depth look at a few noteworthy cases....more
8/5/2016
/ Certificates of Compliance ,
Constructive Trusts ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
DEA ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Intervenors ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
State False Claims Acts ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Whistleblowers
A unanimous Supreme Court issued its long-awaited and closely watched decision today on the scope of the False Claims Act (“FCA”), and the Court affirmed the FCA’s long reach. Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States...more
6/17/2016
/ Conditions of Payment ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Implied Certification Theory ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Implied Certification ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Materiality ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Mental Health ,
SCOTUS ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar ,
Unlicensed Medical Providers
The already enormous per-claim penalties under the federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) may nearly double by August 1, 2016, ratcheting up the stakes of FCA cases for health care providers, pharmaceutical and medical device...more