Whistleblower lawyers based in Washington DC handling False Claims Act qui tam lawsuits nationwide
Our blog contains summaries of recent, significant, False Claims Act court rulings.
November 18, 2013
In United States ex rel. Gale v. Omnicare, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102658 (N.D. Ohio July 23, 2013), the Northern District of Ohio rejected a qui tam defendant’s “unclean hands” defense on the ground that the defendant lacked standing to assert the relator’s possible wrongdoing as a shield to its own liability. The...
November 14, 2013
In U.S. ex rel. Galmines v. Novartis, 2013 U.S. DIST LEXIS 83100 (E.D. Pa. 2013), the United States District Court refused to dismiss the off-label marketing allegations by the relator, a former Novartis sales representative, when an earlier case alleging off-label marketing of the very same dermatological drug – Elidel – focused on a...
District Court Finds no Seal Breach if Relator Didn’t Reference “Qui Tam” Filing
November 13, 2013
In U.S. ex rel. Gale v. Omnicare, Inc. , 2013 US DIST LEXIS 80436 (N.D. Ohio June 7, 2013), the district court denied a motion by defendant to disqualify the relator, a former Omnicare employee, for breaches of the seal during the government’s investigation, including, in particular, alleged discussions about his qui tam action...
S.D Florida Holds Government’s Consent Not Needed for Settlement of Declined Qui Tam
November 12, 2013
In United States ex rel. Osheroff v. MCCI Grp. Holdings, LLC, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108741 (Aug. 2, 2013), the Southern District of Florida held in a non-intervened case that a relator could enforce a settlement in principle with a defendant even though the settlement agreement had not yet been reduced to a writing approved...
1st Circuit Rules Relator’s Discovery Initially May be Limited to Particularized Allegations
November 08, 2013
In U.S. ex rel. Duxbury v. Ortho Biotech Products, 719 F.3d 31 (1st Cir. 2013), the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision to deny relator’s requests for discovery of defendant’s practices throughout the nation and over a seven year period when relator had failed during prior discovery to...
7th Circuit Adopts “Net Trebling” Approach for FCA Damages
November 01, 2013
In U.S. v. Anchor Mortgage Corp., 711 F.3d 745 (7th Cir. 2013), the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit rejected the district court’s use of a “gross trebling” approach to compute False Claims Act damages in a case involving false statements made to obtain federal housing loan guarantees. In an opinion by Judge...
1st Circuit Rules Non-Specific Complaint Can Trigger First-to-File Bar
November 01, 2013
Agreeing with the decision by the D.C. Circuit in United States ex rel. Batiste v. SLM Corp., 659 F.3d 1204 ( 2011), and rejecting the reasoning of the 6th Circuit in Walburn v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 431 F.3d 966 (6th Cir. 2005), the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in U.S. ex rel. Heineman-Guta...
Federal Circuit Rejects “Fraud in Inducement” Theory in Kickback Case
November 01, 2013
In Kellogg Brown & Root Svcs., Inc. v. United States,, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 18447 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 5, 2013), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected “fraud in the inducement” as a viable theory for finding all claims submitted under a contract obtained through kickbacks to be false and also refused...
4th Circuit Rules Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act Tolls Qui Tam Claims
November 01, 2013
In a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court has now accepted certioriari, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March 2013 that a qui tam plaintiff may rely upon the five year tolling provision in the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (WSLA) even when the United States has declined to intervene in...
D.C. District Court Rules FCA Claims Survive Relator’s Death
November 01, 2013
In a case involving allegations by two relators that a government subcontractor submitted false invoices for information technology services, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia joined the resounding chorus and held that the claims that a qui tam plaintiff asserts on behalf of the United States survive his death. U.S....
Qui Tam Counsel may Receive Contingent Interest Plus Statutory Fees, District Court Rules
November 01, 2013
In US ex rel. DePace v. Cooper Health Systems, 2013 WL 1707952 (D.N.J. April 22, 2013), the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey soundly rejected a relator’s challenges to the provisions in his retainer agreement that provided for counsel to be compensated for services both through a contingency interest in...
District Court Finds Fees Paid to Qui Tam Counsel in 2003 are Deductible
November 01, 2013
In Bagley v. United States, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109801 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 5, 2013), the US District Court for the Central District of California held that a qui tam relator who diligently assisted the government throughout the litigation of two federal False Claims Act (FCA) cases against the defense contractor, TRW, Inc., investing...