Significant work goes into settling a False Claims Act action. Defendants may spend months negotiating with the government to reach an agreeable settlement — often even longer if the defendant pursues the arduous ability-to-pay financial analysis process. But what happens when you reach the end of this process and the relator objects to the agreed-upon
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 Crop Insurance Corporation. In doing so, it held that a falsity in an insurance application does not constitute
In its June 14, 2023, decision in United States ex rel. Michelle Calderon v. Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, No. 22-1553, 2023 WL 3991013, (7th Cir. 2023), the Seventh Circuit explained the high bar for relators to prove proximate causation in FCA suits based on alleged false certifications of mortgage loans for Federal Housing Administration
On May 3, 2023, the Seventh Circuit affirmed $10 million in insurance coverage for a False Claims Act (FCA) settlement in a case based on alleged Anti-Kickback Statute violations. Astellas US Holding, Inc. v. Federal Insurance Company concerns a settlement of an investigation into whether a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s sponsorship of patient assistance plans violated the
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual summary of False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries for the prior fiscal year, and the data points to a number of notable trends.
Although DOJ brought in the second-highest number of settlements and judgments that the government has ever collected in a single year, the dollar value of
In 2022, the government continued to utilize the False Claims Act as its primary tool to combat fraud. Though the government’s recoveries at $2.2 billion were down compared to recent years, the government and whistleblowers were party to more than 350 settlements and judgments – the second-highest number of FCA settlements and judgments in a
Industry organizations in business, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and medical technology filed amicus briefs this week in support of the False Claims Act (FCA) defendants in the Supreme Court case United States, ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. As previously reported here, this case raises whether the government has the proper authority to dismiss
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Ruan v. United States ups the ante for prosecutors who bring charges against doctors for unlawfully dispensing and distributing drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. Under the Supreme Court’s guidance, to secure a conviction, the government must now prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that doctors knowingly and intentionally exceeded
On June 21, 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., a case which will decide whether the Department of Justice maintains the authority to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam suits brought by private relators after it initially declines to intervene. The Court