In May, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices announced several significant False Claims Act (FCA) settlements resolving qui tam whistleblower lawsuits. Under the FCA’s qui tam provisions, a...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced its False Claims Act (“FCA”) enforcement statistics for FY 2023 and identified key priorities for FCA enforcement in 2024 and beyond. The DOJ continues to pursue FCA...more
Whistleblower Watch is a comprehensive source for all False Claims Act (FCA) news and information. Every quarter, Cozen O’Connor will provide in-house counsel and compliance professionals with a summary of the most notable...more
Designed for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, this newsletter seeks to bring you up to speed on key federal and state False Claims Act (FCA) developments, with links to primary resources. Each quarter, we...more
Last month in United States ex rel. Schutte, et al. v. SuperValu Inc. et al, the Supreme Court unanimously held (with Justice Thomas writing the opinion) that the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) scienter element refers to a...more
On April 18, the Supreme Court heard oral argument and what has been billed as the most important False Claims Act (FCA) case in a decade. Since the FCA was enacted in the Civil War era, it has been the primary tool for the...more
Virginia AG Jason Miyares reached a settlement with 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services, Inc. to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by submitting fraudulent billing to Virginia’s...more
On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, the Supreme Court heard argument in the consolidated cases of United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu, Inc., and United States ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc., to consider whether subjective...more
The recent settlement of a False Claims Act case afforded SDNY Judge Ronnie Abrams the opportunity to address the standard for redacting a qui tam Relator’s FCA complaint. Judge Abrams decided that Relator Devin English had...more
On October 17, 2022, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in three cases asking the court to resolve a circuit split regarding the application of the particularity pleading requirement for allegations of fraud in False Claims...more
Several days ago, Biogen Inc. announced that it had reached a settlement to resolve a whistleblower lawsuit under the False Claims Act (FCA). Relator’s claims were based on allegations that Biogen’s speaker and consultant...more
What: The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari on a petition seeking to curtail the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ability to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam cases, even if DOJ has determined that the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the Government can dismiss a False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuit pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(2)(A) over the Relator’s objections after initially choosing not to intervene...more
On March 29, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida held that in order to engage in protected conduct under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), a plaintiff must specifically suspect that their employer...more
On February 1, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the second-largest annual total recoveries in the history of the False Claims Act (FCA)—$5.6 billion—for FY 2021 (October 2020 – September 2021)...more
California AG Rob Bonta and the U.S. Department of Justice reached a settlement with hospital system Prime Healthcare Services System, Prime Healthcare’s founder and chief executive officer, Dr. Prem Reddy, and related...more
On May 10, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $22 million settlement with the University of Miami (UM) to resolve allegations related to improper billing for off-campus provider-based facilities, medically...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 30, no. 14 (April 12, 2021) - Doctors Care P.A., the largest urgent care provider network in South Carolina, and its management company, UCI Medical Affiliates of South Carolina Inc., will...more
On November 3, 2020, a Massachusetts Federal District Court issued a notable decision on the applicability of the state’s medical peer review privilege in a federal proceeding, determining that the privilege does not apply to...more
On Sept. 9, 2020, the United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina announced that it had settled a whistleblower lawsuit alleging False Claims Act violations by two former managers and the owner of a now...more
The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) has agreed to pay $57 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that alleged it billed the Medicare and Medicaid programs for hundreds of millions of dollars in home care visits...more
In the DOJ’s first-ever criminal action against an electronic health records vendor, San Francisco-based Practice Fusion Inc. agreed to pay $145 million to resolve allegations that it received kickbacks from pharmaceutical...more
On November 26, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $26.67 million settlement with a laboratory testing corporation, Boston Heart Diagnostics Corporation (Boston Heart). The settlement resolves allegations of...more
Thanks to inexact language in a settlement agreement, a for-profit hospital chain can challenge whistleblowers’ eligibility for attorneys’ fees under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The single sentence that spawned nearly 5...more