The False Claims Act, 31 U.S. C. § 3729, et seq., is the federal government’s most important and most effective tool for fighting fraud. This post provides a high-level overview of the False Claims Act and highlights key aspects of this statute.
Continue Reading False Claims Act Fundamentals: What Is the False Claims Act?
We wanted to update readers on improvements to our blog that you will see over the next few months.
Along with giving the web page a new look, we will be publishing a series of posts to enhance our readers’ understanding of key False Claims Act issues. Each series will serve a different purpose, and the series will focus on the following:
Continue Reading A New Year of Changes at <em>Inside the FCA</em>
On January 25, in a 2-1 decision in U.S. ex rel. Sheldon v. Allergan Sales, LLC, 2022 WL 211172, the Fourth Circuit became the most recent federal appellate court to hold that the objective scienter standard in the Supreme Court’s Safeco decision applies to the False Claims Act (FCA). Under the Fourth Circuit’s decision, the FCA’s scienter element cannot be met if the defendant’s interpretation of applicable statutory or regulatory requirements was objectively reasonable and no authoritative guidance from a circuit court or government agency warned the defendant away from its interpretation.
Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Adopts <em>Safeco</em>’s Objective Reasonableness Standard for False Claims Act
We will release our 10th Annual Healthcare Fraud & Abuse Review in early February 2022. As a companion to the Review, we will host a complimentary webinar on Thursday, February 17, 2022, from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. CT / 8:00-10:00 a.m. PT, which will provide an overview and discussion of key focus areas covered in the Review. Topics will include:
Continue Reading [WEBINAR] Healthcare Fraud & Abuse Annual Review
Each year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) recovers millions of dollars through False Claims Act (FCA) settlements, and 2021 was no exception. Some of the most sizeable or otherwise noteworthy settlements from 2021 were with hospitals and health systems. We’ve summarized a few below.
Continue Reading 2021 Recap: Hospitals’ Significant False Claims Act Settlements
The Eleventh Circuit has become the first federal court of appeals to directly address whether the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause applies to the monetary award in a declined False Claims Act (FCA) case. And in an opinion issued December 29, 2021, the court held that it does. See U.S. ex rel. Yates v. Pinellas Hematology & Oncology, P.A., __ F. 4th __, 2021 WL 6133175 (11th Cir. 2021).
As we have previously covered in a blog post dated August 25, 2021, the Senate is currently considering Senate Bill 2428, the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021 (FCAA), which would cause several significant changes that would make it more difficult for defendants in False Claims Act (FCA) cases. On October 28, 2021, Senate Judiciary Committee (Committee) considered the bill originally introduced by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in July of this year.
Although this blog focuses mainly on the federal False Claims Act (FCA), other antifraud statutes feature in the qui tam relator and government enforcement toolkit. Key among them: the California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act (IFPA).
On December 2, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia granted a motion to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit brought by the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia, which alleged that a Walgreens clinical pharmacy manager falsified hepatitis C drug prior authorization submissions to Virginia Medicaid. See United States v. Walgreen Co., 2021 WL 5760307 (W.D. Va. Dec. 3, 2021).
On December 13, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published its Final Rule on the Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment for 2021. Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the DOJ annually adjusts for inflation civil monetary penalties provided by law that are within the jurisdiction of the DOJ, with respect to violations occurring after November 2, 2015.
Under the 2021 annual adjustment, the minimum False Claims Act penalty assessed per violation occurring after December 13, 2021, will be not less than $11,803 and not more than $23,607. This per violation statutory penalty is in addition to the statutory penalty of three times the amount of damages which the government sustains because of the violation. 31 U.S.C. 3729(a)(1). The below chart snippet from the final rule shows the increase in penalties due to inflation from 2016 to 2021.
If you have any questions related to the calculation of penalties under the False Claims Act, please contact the authors of this post.