Advocates for Justice
Taxpayer money is seemingly everywhere. Sadly, where money goes, bad actors often follow, trying to game the system to pursue unjust profits at the expense of law-abiding citizens. Luckily, there are also ...
Taxpayer money is ubiquitous. Unfortunately, where money goes, unscrupulous people follow, and will take advantage of the system to unfairly profit at their nation’s ultimate expense. Fortunately ...
As explained in our prior posts, statutory penalties under the False Claims Act can reach extraordinary levels. Generally, however, they will not violate the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment to ...
Several circuits have addressed the issue of whether statutory penalties under the False Claims Act implicate the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. Those courts have held ...
In addition to treble damages, the federal False Claims Act requires defendants to pay a statutory penalty for every false claim they submit. Statutory penalties under the False Claims Act are mandatory, even ...
Prescription drugs are often beneficial--treating maladies from minor to life-threatening. Sadly--often driven by money as the bottom line--pharmaceutical companies sometimes engage in fraud, thereby ...
Taxpayer money is everywhere. And where there is money, there are people willing to cheat to get more than their fair share. Fortunately, there are also upstanding humans interested in calling out wrongdoers ...
A recent trend among defendants in False Claims Act cases is to argue that their violations are not "material"--in other words, that even though they may be breaking the rules, the government doesn't care. This ...
Upcoding and misbilling cases are "factually false" claims under the False Claims Act. The distinction between a "legally false” claim, and a “factually false” claim, was recently explained by the ...
Most outpatient healthcare services are billed to Medicare, Medicaid, and other payers on a “CMS-1500” form, using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes to identify the services performed. CPT ...
With a greater demand to access for healthcare services also comes the need for reliable and honest physicians and healthcare facilities. Unfortunately, throughout the country healthcare kickback schemes ...
Last week, court documents were unsealed in the Eastern District of Texas laying out serious allegations of fraud against True Health Diagnostics, LLC. The documents arise from a failed attempt by True Health ...
In a decision of first impression in the state and federal appellate courts throughout the country, the Virginia Supreme Court issued an opinion in a case filed by CPM in 2007, Commonwealth v. Commonwealth ex ...
Part 6: Are There Any Downsides to Becoming a Whistleblower? The Whistleblower Facts of Life
Part 5: Whistleblower Rewards
In a divided opinion, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal overturned a lower court order dismissing a $35 million whistleblower suit against Brookdale Senior Living Communities. The suit was filed by a former ...
Part 4: Who Can Be a Qui Tam Plaintiff? And What Is the Basic Process?
Part 3: Whistleblower Rewards: An Introduction to the False Claims Act
Part 2: Protecting Whistleblowers From Retaliation
Part 1: Am I a Potential Whistleblower?
The clinical laboratory industry continues to be a hotbed for Medicare and Medicaid fraud, as well as fraud and overbilling in connection with tests covered by private insurance.
Potential whistleblowers are sometimes afraid that if they bring their employer’s fraudulent scheme to light, the government will come after them for being involved in the fraud. While certainly ...
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday announced that it will review a Seventh Circuit decision finding income from $13.3 million given to employees was taxable.
On July 7, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in United States ex rel. Campie v. Gilead Sciences, laying out the standards for pleading plausible claims under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) in whistleblower cases ...
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects the right to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination because of race, religion, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation ...
On December 6, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court, in State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby, Docket No. 15-513, slip op. (S.Ct. December 6, 2016) (“State Farm v. Rigsby”), found that failure to ...
Mylan NV's EpiPen has made headlines recently, and not in a positive way. Outrage grew in August at a jaw dropping 500% price hike for its EpiPen epinephrine auto injectors. The EpiPen is a lifesaving device ...
Drug compounding is the process by which a pharmacist combines or alters ingredients to make medications tailored to individual patient needs. Common examples include putting medication in liquid form for ...
In federal and California state courts, defendants often look to the “public disclosure bar,” 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4)(A) and Cal. Gov. Code section 12652, subd. (d)(3)(A), to shield them from liability ...
Under the California False Claims Act, like its federal counterpart, defendants often seek to have claims against them dismissed on the basis of the “public disclosure” bar, Cal. Gov. Code section 12652 ...
The federal government spent roughly 14% of its overall expenditures on Medicare in 2014. Included in those costs were significant money paid to rehabilitation companies and skilled nursing facilities to ...
Currently pending before the Supreme Court is an important False Claims Act case, Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar. The complaint in the case alleges that Universal Health Services ...
Effective January 1, 2016, Assembly Bill (AB) 1509 prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee who is a family member of a whistleblower. Specifically, the bill “extend[s] the protections of ...
Attorneys who litigate in Federal Court need to be aware of the recent amendments to the FRCP, which went into effect on December 1, 2015, in particular changes to Rule 26, which governs the “duty to ...
The United States Department of Justice has announced further criminal charges in connection with CPM’s spine surgery qui tam case. Federal prosecutors announced charges against five ...
On June 1, 2015, District Court Judge John Walter of the Central District Court of California dismissed whistleblower James Swoben’s federal False Claims Act (FCA) case, finding that he was not the ...
In an order issued August 14, 2015, Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow of the San Francisco Superior Court cleared the path for CPM and California Attorney General Kamala Harris to pursue whistleblower claims against BP ...
The United States Department of Justice and Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP announced today a $75.5 million settlement of claims against VMware, Inc. and Carahsoft Technology Corporation, in a False ...
One of the most important factors in any case under the False Claims Act (federal or California), is whether the government decides to “intervene.” Oftentimes, however, when the government intervenes ...
In this day and age, virtually all federal and state government agencies have integrated computer systems and technologies into their everyday business. As a result, technology companies are selling ...
With the mounting costs of higher education, students are increasingly relying on federal financial aid to finance their education. As a result, taxpayer monies are increasingly being advertised and used by ...
On Monday, May 4, 2015, courts unsealed two health care fraud cases and revealed settlement amounts totaling over $461.5 million. In Carlisle v. Pacific Ambulance et al., Case No. 3:09-cv-02628-L-BLM (S.D ...
The United States Department of Justice today announced a $48.5 million settlement of claims against Health Diagnostic Laboratories (“HDL”) and Singulex, Inc., in a False Claims Act case filed by ...
California Labor Code §1102.5 protects employees from retaliation when employees report—either internally or to an outside law enforcement agency— employers that violate local, state or federal ...
Last week, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) posted an Advisory Opinion addressing several issues of importance in the medical laboratory ...
The False Claims Act can be a powerful tool against for-profit educational institutions that exploit students, and bilk taxpayers. Under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (“HEA”), Congress established ...
The Center for Investigative Reporting this weekend aired a story detailing CPM’s counterfeit screws litigation on hundreds of public radio stations around the country. You can listen here. The story ...
Defendants in federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases often attempt to get cases dismissed by alleging that the whistleblower’s claims are based on information that was “publicly disclosed.” This ...
When a company charges the government for goods or services that were provided in a manner that violates laws, regulations, rules, or contractual provisions, those charges may violate the False Claims Act ...
On December 23, 2014, Judge Troy L. Nunley of the Eastern District of California ruled in plaintiffs’ favor, denying defendants’ motion to dismiss. See United States ex. rel. Dalitz v. AmSurg ...
Earlier this month, the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark decision broadening liability for False Claims Act violations. The decision, United States ex rel. Badr v. Triple Canopy ...
Procurement fraud—overcharging the government on some of the millions of products and services that government agencies purchase from private companies every year—is one of the most common schemes ...
In a complaint filed this week, California Attorney General Kamala Harris added detailed allegations to a whistleblower case filed by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy against BP (formerly British Petroleum ...
Continuing Care Retirement Communities (“CCRCs”) are gaining in popularity as an option for senior retirement living. Many CCRCs offer gorgeous surroundings akin to a 5-star hotel. Often they tout ties ...
Another area of healthcare that is rife with fraud is hospice care. Hospices aim to provide palliative care, as opposed to curative care, to patients in the last six months of their lives. Palliative care is ...
Congratulations to Niall McCarthy for being named to the Irish Legal 100 for 2014. The Irish Legal is published in the Irish Voice, which is a national legal newspaper.
After an hour long hearing on Thursday, December 11, 2014, Judge Elihu M. Berle of the Los Angeles Superior Court rejected defense challenges to a CPM whistleblower complaint alleging that they engaged in a ...
Mixed news this week for Dodd-Frank whistleblowers and attorneys working in that space: As we already know from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s annual report to Congress (released last ...
The owner of the property adjacent to Martin’s Beach has been ordered to immediately reopen public access to the beach. Judge Barbara Mallach of the San Mateo County Superior Court issued a final order today ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held last week that the FCA does not bar prospective employers from discriminating against job applicants for having served as whistleblowers against different ...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released its annual report to Congress on its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program last week. As in years past, the results are heartening for ...
Due to rampant drug and gang violence in Central America—particularly in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras—there has been a huge influx or “surge” of unaccompanied minors immigrating to the ...
It was publically revealed yesterday that the California Attorney General’s Office is joining a whistleblower case against BP (formerly British Petroleum) that accuses the oil company of massive ...
The Legislature has enacted several changes to the California Labor Code designed to protect employee-whistleblower activity. Many of these changes relate directly to areas in which CPM practices. The ...
- “The Outsiders”: New Ninth Circuit Ruling on the Public-Disclosure Bar and Original Source Exception
On October 29, 2014, the Ninth Circuit issued a published opinion in Malhotra v. Steinberg, et al. that contains a detailed discussion of the public disclosure bar, and the original source exception, of the ...
On November 6, 2014, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld bans on gay marriage in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The ruling in the consolidated appeal ...
A recently published Ninth Circuit case interpreting the California False Claims Act proved relatively non-controversial, despite involving a dispute at the fringes of the abortion wars. In the case ...
The Center for Investigative Reporting published a 4,000-word article yesterday detailing a Southern California medical equipment supplier’s scheme to use private plane rides, international ...
Even as recent federal rulings threaten to narrow the scope of anti-retaliation protections provided to individuals who report violations of America’s securities law, the Dodd-Frank Act’s ...
Defendants often attack actions brought under the California False Claims Act by arguing that the complaint does not provide sufficient specificity. Such attacks ignore two fundamental principles of ...
Citing a half-century of trial experience spanning the gamut of the law—from civil rights to antitrust, securities fraud to the representation of outed CIA spy Valerie Plame—Law360 selected CPM ...
More than five years have passed since President Obama signed into law several important, relator-friendly amendments to the False Claims Act as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 ...
