In late August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a long-awaited decision in U.S. ex rel. Rose v. Stephens Institute that interprets key aspects of the implied false certification theory of False Claims Act (FCA) liability under the Supreme Court’s 2016 Escobar decision. As the Ninth Circuit explains in its decision, Escobar “unsettled” Ninth Circuit law related to the standard for proving falsity and materiality in an FCA case. The Ninth Circuit therefore sought to reconcile its precedents with Escobar in Rose, which was before …
Tag Archives: False or Fraudulent
One-Two Punch: On Consecutive Days, DOJ Announces High Dollar Fraud and Abuse Settlements with Hospitals
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced two significant False Claims Act (FCA) settlements in recent days that signal continued close government scrutiny of billing, coding and referral practices at hospitals.
On August 2, DOJ announced an $84.5 million dollar settlement with Michigan-based health system William Beaumont Hospital. The settlement resolves allegations of non-compliance with the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and Stark Law arising from “improper relationships with eight referring physicians” that led to the submission of false claims to government health care programs.
DOJ alleged that the defendant provided compensation substantially …
