Over the last several months, U.S. courts have seen significant activity involving the False Claims Act (FCA), a federal law amended in 1986 to allow individual citizens to sue companies for money damages if they have evidence that the companies have defrauded the taxpayers. If an FCA case is successful, the person who brings it receives a portion of the amount of money that is recovered. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) report “staggering numbers of newly filed and pending FCA cases” as well as a record-setting number of recoveries made under the FCA.
The cases are hard fought. Most recently, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that overturned an $11.1 million FCA verdict against MedQuest Associates for submitting claims to Medicare that violated Medicare’s rules of participation.
Most of the million-dollar recoveries come from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, but the DOJ also reported significant recoveries (often with criminal prosecutions) from hospitals, physicians, medical practices, long-term care facilities and managed care organizations.
Author Bio
Valerie Johnson
Founder
Valerie Johnson is a North Carolina personal injury and workers’ compensation attorney dedicated to helping injured and working people across the state. A board-certified specialist since 2000, she is the Immediate Past President of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and author of North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law: A Practical Guide to Success at Every Stage of a Claim.
