DOJ Reports $3.7B Haul in FY 2017 FCA Recoveries

On December 21, 2017, the Department of Justice reported that it recovered more than $3.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil False Claims Act (FCA) cases in Fiscal Year 2017. The FY 2017 recovery is the fourth largest total in thirty years. At the industry level, DOJ reported $2.47B in recoveries from the health care sector, $220M from defense companies, and approximately $1B from the remaining industries such as banking, higher education, and energy.

The change in presidential administration appears to have had little effect on FCA activity. The number of new FCA actions in FY 2017 remained high with relators bringing 674 new qui tam matters and DOJ initiating 125 matters on its own. These numbers are consistent with the prior five years and suggests that FCA will remain an active area for investigations and litigation in 2018.