Articles and Blogs

On May 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Kellog Brown & Root Service, Inv. et al. v. United States ex rel. Carter, 575 U.S. ____ (2015), Case No. 12-1497. Most of the commentary on the case centers around the Court’s decision on the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act, but... READ MORE

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals¹ became the third federal appeals court in one week to issue an opinion regarding the False Claims Act’s Public Disclosure Bar.² In a non-precedential opinion, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a pharmacist’s allegations finding the allegations were based on public information for which the Relator was... READ MORE

Today the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals joined several other Circuit Courts in finding that an administrative review, and even a repayment to the appropriate government oversight entity, did not qualify as a “public disclosure” under the False Claims Act’s public disclosure bar. READ MORE

A clearly irate Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment granted on behalf of Shell Exploration and Development Company, for the second time, and remanded with an order that the case be assigned to a new judge. In United States ex rel. Little v. Shell Exploration the Fifth Circuit, for the second time, reversed the trial... READ MORE

A recent case out of the Northern District of Illinois Federal Court, US ex rel. Oughatiyan v. IPC the Hospitalist Company, Inc., demonstrates the high risk inherent in evaluation and management (E&M) coding for health care providers. READ MORE

Written by David B. Honig and Delphine P. O’Rourke Assertion of affirmative defenses creates risk for clients, attorneys and law firms.  Treating False Claims Act litigation like any other litigation will lead to the unnecessary expenditure of time and money and potentially sanctions. A recent decision out of the Southern District of Texas, United States ex rel. King v Solvay S.A.,¹ is an excellent primer... READ MORE

by David B. Honig and Brian C. Betner CMS Announces Further Delay of Repayment Rule To be published in the February 17, 2015 Federal Register, CMS has extended its deadline for finalizing the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) 60-day payback rule. This is the rule that requires a Medicare or Medicaid provider to return an identified overpayment within... READ MORE

Written by David B. Honig and Ritu Kaur Cooper. On February 3, 2015, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that disclosures to the public officials responsible for managing the subject of a False Claims Act lawsuit did not qualify as “public disclosures” for the purpose of the FCA’s public disclosure bar. US ex rel. Wilson v.... READ MORE

with Drew B. Howk On Monday, February 2, well-respected Federal District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff awarded costs to the prevailing Defendant in US ex rel. Associates Against Outlier Fraud v. Huron Consulting, Case No. 09 Civ. 1800(JSR). The case had a long history. The Complaint was originally filed in February 2009. It was unsealed ten months... READ MORE

Just three months ago, the Department of Justice announced a record year for False Claims Act recoveries totaling more than $5 billion, including $2.3 billion from health care defendants alone. Helping to contribute to these recoveries was another record: over 700 whistleblower cases filed in 2014. READ MORE