On August 13, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued a memo entitled The Fraud Division’s Enforcement Priorities to all personnel of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) new National Fraud Enforcement Division. As the title suggests, the memo sets out the division’s enforcement priorities. While the memo doesn’t break new ground, it highlights further
Texas is again aggressively investigating and prosecuting dental and orthodontic fraud, particularly regarding Medicaid billing. In fact, in 2025 Attorney General Ken Paxton stated that the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) is heavily targeting pediatric dental chains that use “paper-only” visits, where the clinic bills for an exam that never actually occurred or was performed
On February 18, 2025, the First Circuit joined the Sixth and Eighth Circuits in adopting a “but for” causation standard in cases involving per se liability under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the False Claims Act (FCA). In U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the First Circuit held that for an AKS violation to automatically
Recent years have seen eye-popping judgments and settlements involving cases brought under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). And healthcare companies have, unsurprisingly, focused their compliance efforts on these and other federal fraud-and-abuse statutes. But a recent decision out of the Second Circuit underlines the importance of incorporating state-level anti-fraud
The District of Massachusetts has joined the growing chorus of courts that have applied a heightened causation standard in False Claims Act (FCA) cases predicated on the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).
U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor recently ruled that the government must show a “but for” causal connection between an AKS violation and an allegedly
The First Circuit will decide the causation standard required in False Claims Act (FCA) cases predicated on the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), deepening a circuit split on the issue and potentially teeing up Supreme Court intervention.
U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton asked the First Circuit to review his recent ruling that the government need not prove
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently unveiled a quicker process to answer the healthcare industry’s most pressing questions on the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), allowing healthcare stakeholders to attain more timely guidance at less cost.
OIG has expanded its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) program to cover new topics such as AKS enforcement, civil monetary
Last week, the Sixth Circuit closed two paths the government and relators have tried to take to expand liability for medical providers under the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and False Claims Act (FCA): the meaning of “remuneration” under the AKS and the causation standard for AKS-based FCA claims.
The AKS, which prohibits referrals in
The Eighth Circuit split with the Third Circuit over the appropriate causation standard in False Claims Act (FCA) cases involving alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), holding that the 2010 amendments to the AKS created a “but-for causal requirement” (United States ex rel. Cairns v. D.S. Medical, LLC).
In 2010, Congress amended