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  3. |The Times They Are A’Changing – Or Are They? DOJ Announces It Will Move To Dismiss Qui Tam Complaints That Lack Merit

The Times They Are A’Changing – Or Are They? DOJ Announces It Will Move To Dismiss Qui Tam Complaints That Lack Merit

Client Alert | 1 min read | 11.13.17

After months of signaling that a change to the Department of Justice’s qui tam practices was imminent, Michael Granston, Director of the Civil Fraud Section, announced the change during a presentation at the Health Care Compliance Association’s Health Care Enforcement Compliance Institute on October 30. The Department of Justice will now move to dismiss a qui tam complaint when it concludes that it lacks merit. Although announced as a means of conserving judicial and litigant resources, we also wonder if the apparent change is spurred by a concern over the creation of bad law under Escobar’s materiality standard is a driving force behind this decision. Given that DOJ rarely exercises its statutory authority to move to dismiss a qui tam complaint, it should not be difficult to ascertain whether DOJ’s announcement is, in fact, a sign of a real shift in its enforcement tactics.

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Client Alert | 4 min read | 07.02.25

Supreme Court Upholds the Constitutionality of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Service Coverage Scheme

On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the USPSTF and its role in identifying preventive services for coverage under the ACA in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management.[1]In the case, the Supreme Court considered whether the Secretary of HHS’s appointment of USPSTF members without the advice and consent of the Senate complied with the Appointments Clause in Article II of the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court found that USPSTF members were “inferior Officers” under the Appointments Clause who did not require Senate confirmation because the Secretary of HHS had the authority to remove USPSTF members at will and “to directly review and block Task Force recommendations before they take effect.” The Supreme Court therefore affirmed that the USPSTF as currently structured may legally recommend preventive services for coverage without cost-sharing requirements under the ACA....

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