The Supreme Court now has the opportunity to define “willfulness” under the federal criminal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). In a declined qui tam case filed against McKesson Corporation, a pharmaceutical wholesaler, the...more
On May 7, 2024, Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed with prejudice a putative shareholders’ class action against a pharmaceutical company (“Company”)...more
On April 15, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed in a non-precedential summary order the summary judgment dismissal of securities fraud claims against a pharmaceutical company (the...more
On March 11, 2024, Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action brought...more
Hosted by American Conference Institute, the 11th Annual Advanced Forum on False Claims and Qui Tam Enforcement returns for another exciting year for lively discussions on FCA enforcement including the ramifications of two...more
On September 25, 2023, Judge Lorna Schofield of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss a proposed class action against a biopharmaceutical company (the “Company”)...more
n June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously settled a long-standing dispute over a subjective versus objective standard for scienter under the False Claims Act (FCA), holding that a defendant’s own subjective belief is...more
Summer 2023- 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...more
The Federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) allows private parties to bring lawsuits in the name of the federal government against defendants who allegedly “knowingly” present a false claim to the government for payment. The...more
Two False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases have recently been decided by the United State Supreme Court, further clarifying one aspect of the FCA. In the recent decisions in U.S. ex rel Proctor v. Safeway, Inc. and U.S. ex rel....more
On June 15, 2023, Judge Michael A. Shipp of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, in an unpublished opinion, adopted a Special Master’s Report and Recommendation denying a motion to dismiss claims...more
On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued its much-anticipated opinion in United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. and United States ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc. (Schutte), holding...more
On June 1, 2023, in U.S. ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., the Supreme Court clarified the state-of-mind (or “scienter”) standard under the False Claims Act (FCA), holding that a defendant’s subjective belief that a claim...more
In a resounding unanimous 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court rejected the argument that a defendant’s subjective belief is irrelevant under the False Claims Act (FCA) when evaluating whether a defendant “knowingly” submitted a...more
Two separate lawsuits alleging False Claims Act (FCA) violations by retail drug pharmacies made their way to the Supreme Court of the United States this term. The lawsuits decided whether the pharmacies could defeat these...more
On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in the consolidated cases United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. and United States ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc., Nos. 21-1326 &...more
The United States Supreme Court recently held that a defendant’s subjective belief is always relevant to the False Claims Act’s scienter element, regardless of what an objectively reasonable person may have believed. This...more
Leaves Window Open for Defense Based on Subjective Belief - On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in a consolidated appeal of two healthcare qui tam cases that removes a very powerful defense from...more
On June 1, 2023, in United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the scienter requirement of a claim brought under the False Claims Act (FCA) is evaluated based on the...more
Is subjective intent relevant to FCA claims? The Court answered yes, holding that FCA liability turns on what the defendant actually believed, not on what an objectively reasonable person may have believed. On June 1, 2023,...more
On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the consolidated cases United States v. SuperValu Inc. and United States v. Safeway, Inc. holding that the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) scienter element refers...more
The False Claims Act imposes liability for false and fraudulent claims a defendant submitted with the requisite state of mind, or scienter. Before the Supreme Court handed down its June 1, 2023, decision in the combined...more
On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. reversing a pair of False Claims Act (FCA) cases on review from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In...more
The Supreme Court , in a unanimous decision, rejected a challenge by corporate pharmacy defendants, to the intent requirement in a Medicaid and Medicare over-billing False Claims Act case. Justice Clarence Thomas, who has...more
The U.S. Supreme Court clarified the standard for a defendant's state of mind in False Claims Act ("FCA") cases, holding that a defendant acts "knowingly"—which the FCA defines also to include deliberate ignorance and...more