False Claims Act Insights - If Everything Matters, Nothing Does: Parsing Materiality in FCA Disputes
Podcast: Non-binding Guidance: SEC Disclosure Issues for Life Sciences Companies
Life Sciences Quarterly (Q3 2019): SEC Enforcement and Class Actions Regarding FDA Communications
As we do every year, this issue revisits the key cases and other developments from the year gone by. And by most metrics, 2023 was a notable year for the False Claims Act (FCA). We start with the numbers: The Department...more
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed judgment against relators in a case alleging that a group of dairy farmers growing corn violated the False Claims Act by filing false insurance claims paid by the Federal...more
The False Claims Act’s (FCA) materiality requirement as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 579 U.S. 176 (2016) was again front and center, this time in a...more
In this post, we summarize noteworthy False Claims Act (FCA) decisions so far from 2023. Each of the three circuit court opinions discussed here ruled in favor of the defendants on different aspects of the FCA: the Sixth...more
The Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar resolved a Circuit split regarding the implied certification theory as a basis for False Claims Act (FCA) liability. While...more
Because qui tam claims sound in fraud, under precedent and Rule 9(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, relators are required to plead their claims with a heightened degree of specificity that many, having limited...more
Tenth Circuit recently emphasized that the liability imposed under the False Claims Act (FCA) is predicated on a rigorous materiality requirement. Upholding dismissal of a qui tam complaint based on allegations of false...more
The final months of 2021 saw a flurry of noteworthy False Claims Act (FCA) activity. Among other developments, appellate courts issued important decisions concerning materiality, the government’s qui tam dismissal authority,...more
On October 28, a majority of members on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 15-7 to advance to the full Senate a bipartisan bill that would make a number of amendments to the False Claims Act (“FCA”), including one that...more
In July 2021, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill, S. 2428, entitled the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021 ("S. 2428"), which proposed substantive and procedural amendments to the False Claims Act ("FCA")....more
In a move that threatens to undermine some key defenses to liability under the False Claims Act, a bipartisan group of senators voted to advance the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021 (SB 2428) out of the Senate Judiciary...more
The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently considering amendments to the False Claims Act, a law originally passed during the Civil War that was modernized in 1986. The debate in the Judiciary Committee is being closely...more
In July 2021, Senator Chuck Grassley led a bipartisan group of senators in introducing S.B. 2428, the “False Claims Amendments Act of 2021,” which aims to address legal developments in FCA doctrine that, according to the...more
On July 26, 2021, a bipartisan group of legislators led by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley introduced a pair of bills that would represent the most significant changes to the FCA in more than a decade. In broad strokes, the...more
The False Claims Amendments Act of 2021 (S. 2428), introduced late last month by a bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), could make defending False Claims Act (FCA) cases substantially more...more
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
On Monday, Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021, section 2 of which would provide that defendants “may rebut an argument of materiality” as to an allegedly false claim submitted...more
As 2020 draws to a close, we take a look back at a number of the most significant False Claims Act (FCA) cases of the prior 12 months. Although no blockbuster cases emerged, such as the Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in...more
THE ONLY EVENT WHERE YOU'LL HEAR FROM Government, In-house Counsel, The Judiciary, the Defense & Relator’s Bar - ACI’s 8th Annual Advanced Forum on False Claims and Qui Tam Enforcement will address the underlying...more
Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed a qui tam action against Defendants Pioneer Education, LLC, Pioneer Education Manager, Inc., Jolie Health & Beauty Academy, and Joseph Visconti...more
Enforcement activity by the U.S. Government historically spikes in the wake of heightened government spending, whether a result of wars, recessions, or natural disasters. Following the unprecedented infusion of public money...more
Earlier this month, the United States Department of Justice issued a press release to announce recoveries of over $3 billion from False Claims Act cases in FY2019. In making the announcement, Assistant Attorney General Jody...more
The year 2019 was another active year in False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and litigation. Although the year lacked a singular blockbuster case, there were decisions of particular note. The Supreme Court clarified the...more
With more than 34.8 billion recovered by the government since 2010 under the federal False Claims Act, it has never been more crucial for private practitioners and corporate in-house counsel to keep abreast of the changes and...more
The past 18 months have been a (relatively) wild time for the False Claims Act - on the books since 1863. In FY2018 the Department of Justice obtained more than $2.8 billion in settlements and judgments from cases involving...more