On July 9, 2018, the Ninth Circuit in United States ex rel. Silingo v. Wellpoint, Inc., reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded the dismissal of a False Claims Act lawsuit against several Medicare Advantage Organizations. The Court held Wellpoint was mistakenly dismissed on the pleadings.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) is an independent U.S. federal agency established by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act of 1974. The CFTC’s Whistleblower Program was created by the Dodd-Frank Act, adding a section called “Commodity Whistleblower Incentives and Protection” to the Commodity Exchange Act. Whistleblowers are eligible for 10-30% of the monetary award the regulator collects if the information leads to an SEC enforcement action with sanctions over $1 million.
On July 9, 2018, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, in U.S. ex rel. Polukoff v. St. Mark’s Hosp., 17-4014, — F. 3d —, 2018 WL 3340513 (10th Cir. July 9, 2018), was faced with an interesting question: whether a physician’s certification of medical necessity could be deemed “false” for purposes of the False Claims Act where no national or local governmental guidelines addressed the propriety or necessity of the physician’s specific services.
On Monday night, D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh was selected by President Donald J. Trump to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court. The 53-year-old Kavanaugh has spent the last 12 years as a federal judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals where he authored over 300 opinions.
A postmaster in South Dakota has been ordered to pay a civil judgment of $353,441.42 to the United States for defrauding the United States Postal Service (USPS). In United States v. Christeson, Judge Karen E.
In United States ex rel. Forney v. Medtronic, Inc., Judge Edward G. Smith of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of the Relator by denying medical device manufacturer, Medtronic’s request for summary judgment. Judge Smith ruled that Relator Forney was not barred by the public disclosure bar because she is an original source that “materially added” to the publically disclosed allegations of fraud against Medtronic.
The beat goes on…
According to a May 31, 2018 filing in New Jersey federal court, Dr. Thomas Savino of Staten Island was sentenced to four years imprisonment and three years’ supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and forfeit $27,500 for his part in the Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services fraud.
What Happened?
On May 23, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Judge Richard M. Gergel, imposed a $111 million judgment against former Health Diagnostics Laboratory (“HDL”) CEO, Latonya Mallory, and former BlueWave Healthcare Consultants (“BlueWave”) owners, Floyd Dent III and Robert Bradford Johnson.
On May 21, 2018, Judge Lawrence F. Stengel of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted Relator Gohil’s motion to compel calling for the production of hundreds of attorney-client privilege-asserted documents in a False Claims Act dispute.
In the underlying case, United States of America ex rel.
What Happened?
Jeffrey Wertkin, a former Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP partner who previously had worked at the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), received 30 months’ imprisonment for offenses related to his theft and attempted sale of a sealed government whistleblower complaint to a cyber-security company being investigated by the DOJ.
If you are aware of any person, corporation or entity that you think may be violating the Federal False Claims Act or a State False Claims Act, contact us today.