Last week the en banc court rejected a petition in United States ex rel. Martin v. Hathaway, 63 F.4th 1043, 1054 (6th Cir. 2023), a False Claims Act case in which an ophthalmologist and a hospital had an informal agreement to refer patients to each other. Chief Judge Sutton’s opinion rejected the argument that the … Continue Reading
United States ex rel. Andrew Hirt v. Walgreen Company offers an important cautionary tale for plaintiffs considering claims, or defendants facing claims, brought under the False Claims Act. But it also offers some insights regarding allegations of fraud more generally. The Sixth Circuit faced, head-on, the question of the heightened pleadings standard, and made clear … Continue Reading
On Monday, the Sixth Circuit issued its published opinion in United States v. United Technologies Corp., the most recent appeal in several rounds of fraud litigation stemming from jet engine prices charged to the government over thirty years ago. The case stemmed from prices charged by Pratt & Whitney (now part of United Technologies) to … Continue Reading
Late last month, the Sixth Circuit issued a decision in United States ex rel. Whipple v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority, a False Claims Act case against a hospital for fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims, and held that internal government disclosures in previous investigations do not trigger the “public disclosure” bar of the FCA. In 2006, an … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit held yesterday in Vander Boegh v. EnergySolutions, Inc. that a job applicant is not considered an “employee” under the False Claims Act and the Energy Reorganization Act, and therefore cannot avail himself of the Acts’ retaliation provisions. The plaintiff, a former landfill manager who had reported environmental violations at his prior job, alleged … Continue Reading
Back in October, this blog considered the Sixth Circuit’s strict application of the False Claim Act’s requirement that qui tam complaints be filed under seal. In doing so, we questioned whether the Court’s decision in US ex rel Summers v. LHC Group, Inc., No. 09-5883 (6th Cir. Oct. 4, 2010), upholding the dismissal of an … Continue Reading
