Public Disclosure Of "Industry-Wide" Overbilling Practice Bars Qui Tam Suit Based Upon Similar But Undisclosed Fraudulent Transactions
Client Alert | 1 min read | 02.21.06
In United States ex rel. Gear v. Emergency Medical Assocs. of Ill. , the Seventh Circuit took an expansive view of the False Claims Act's ["FCA"] "public disclosure" bar , concluding that media and governmental reports concerning the general type of unlawful scheme alleged in a qui tam complaint sufficed to defeat the court's jurisdiction, even though such reports did not identify the particular defendant or any specific instances of its alleged misconduct. Specifically, the Seventh Circuit held that medical journal articles and a series of Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General audits concerning "industry-wide" Medicare billing abuses in which hospitals sought reimbursement for services provided by residents as if they were licensed attending physicians, were "public disclosures" that barred the relator's complaint involving alleged similar overbilling schemes, despite the fact that the disclosures did not identify the two defendants or their specific fraudulent transactions.
Insights
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
The facts before the Third Circuit in the recently decided case of Patel v. United States illustrate how parties can put themselves in a bind if they make factual admissions when resolving a criminal case involving fraud on the government while not simultaneously resolving the government’s civil claims under the False Claims Act (FCA) for the same underlying conduct.
Client Alert | 4 min read | 11.18.25
DOJ Announces Major Enforcement Actions Targeting North Korean Remote IT Worker Schemes
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