Over 40 percent of money recovered by the Department of Justice from False Claims Act (FCA) suits involve fraud against federal health care programs. More importantly, nearly 89 percent of all new FCA matters in 2014 originated qui tam lawsuits brought by whistleblowers.
Developments in FCA jurisprudence have innumerable consequences for the health care industry, and other and the industry is also open to constant legal actions brought by whistleblowers to other federal agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a deep dive into legal developments stemming from preventing and defending whistleblower actions, check out the firm’s new “Whistleblower Watch” blog.
Some recent posts that relate specifically to health care or life science defendants are:
- Heightened Notice Presumption Still Applicable After Amendments to FCA Retaliation Statute – Discussing how one case affects the interpretation of the “heightened notice requirement” in light of the 2009 and 2010 amendments to the FCA
- Jury Finds No False Claims Act Liability in NIH Grant Funding Case – Regarding a Northern District of California case involving false certification allegations.
- Court Refuses to Keep Whistleblower Names Sealed – Where the Middle District of Alabama rejected relators’ requests for continued anonymity after their case was dismissed.
Sophisticated motion practice and pre-trial strategies are key to limiting liability under the FCA and other whistleblower-based actions. The firm’s Health Care Group regularly collaborates with the litigators featured on the Whistleblower Watch website, so stay tuned for cross-posts that highlight the expertise of the practitioners in this ever-important area of law.