Articles and Blogs

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

Written by David B. Honig and Steven H. Pratt. On February 2, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on a case from the Southern District of Ohio, US ex rel American Systems Consulting, Inc. v Mantech Advanced Systems International. At issue was whether a court may determine whether a knowingly false statement in a proposal for... READ MORE

Relator Thulin was a pharmacist in Idaho working for Shopko, a Wisconsin company. He filed an FCA claim alleging Shopko defrauded Medicaid by failing to pass along private insurance plan prices to Medicaid for dual-eligible patients. The court rejected Shopko’s claim, affirming the trial court’s grant of a motion to dismiss. Dual-eligible Medicaid recipients... READ MORE

Last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its unpublished ruling in US ex rel. Mastej v. Health Management Associates, Inc. At issue was whether the relator’s Third Amended Complaint adequately pled fraud with particularity, as required by Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 9(b). Mastej was an Health Management Associate (“HMA”) executive from 2001 to February 2007. In that... READ MORE

In a new case from the Southern District of Ohio, US_v_MillenniumRadiology, the court denied a motion to dismiss a False Claims Act suit, finding that compliance with a safe harbor could only be raised on summary judgment. The court also found that uncompensated service as a medical director could form the basis for a False Claims... READ MORE

From October 1 through October 12, 2014, there were 14 federal cases reported that mentioned the False Claims Act. One was previously discussed in the September 2014 FCA Update. Eight more only tangentially discussed the False Claims Act. Five cases might be of interest to parties and counsel in a False Claims Act suit. US... READ MORE

Only one FCA case of interest was decided by a U.S. Circuit Court in September. In US ex rel Parikh v Brown, the Court found that a county hospital and its administrator’s participation in a “simple, brazen kickback scheme” could not be shielded by qualified immunity. The hospital and its administrator split pain center revenues with... READ MORE