Under the False Claims Act, an individual or agency can be held liable if they knowingly submit a false claim to the government, or cause the submission of a false claim. When individuals see these wrongdoings and false claims being made, they can pursue a whistleblower lawsuit to correct the…
Many people are familiar with whistleblower lawsuits (often called qui tam actions) brought under the federal False Claims Act (31 USC §3729 et seq.) but many states have their own version of the law, as well. California has its own version and was one of the first states to promulgate…
A doctor was arrested on December 13, 2018 for improperly distributing opioids to his patients and billing Medicare for the drugs. The doctor now faces 45 federal charges relating to healthcare fraud for not only prescribing illicit drugs to patients but requiring those with insurance to accept injections so that…
The majority of U.S. states have their own version of the federal False Claims Act (FCA), and California is no exception. Anyone who engages in fraudulent activity in California may be subject to punishment under the California False Claims Act (CFCA). While the FCA and CFCA have many similarities, they…
The False Claims Act (FCA), which prohibits entities that conduct business with the government from defrauding the government, goes all the way back to the time of the Civil War. It is sometimes called the Lincoln Law because of the president who was in office when the law went into…
The federal government’s False Claims Act (FCA) case against United Health Group (UHG) continues after major developments. In the case of U.S. ex rel. Benjamin Poehling v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc., The U.S. District Court in the Central District of California dismissed half of the claims brought through the initial qui…
On July 24, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced that Celgene Corp., a pharmaceutical manufacturer headquartered in New Jersey, will pay $280 million to numerous states and the federal government to settle claims that it submitted false claims to the federal government and state health…
Last week, we wrote about the upcoming Supreme Court case that will decide if the implied certification theory is a valid interpretation of the Federal False Claims Act (“FCA”). It is a decision that could substantially empower government fraud whistleblowers. However, it is worth remembering that the federal false claims…