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Can a Promulgated Court Opinion in a Qui Tam Case be Vacated Upon the Parties’ Request in Order to Facilitate a Settlement? Part II

By Sherrie Savett In Part I of this blog series, we established that Courts have discretion to vacate, but it should not be used “absent exceptional circumstances.”  Amaefule v. Exxonmobil Oil Corp., 630 F. Supp. 2d 42, 43 (D.D.C. 2009) (quoting U.S. Bancorp Mortg. Co. v. Bonner Mall P’ship, 513 […]

Can a Promulgated Court Opinion in a Qui Tam Case be Vacated Upon the Parties’ Request in Order to Facilitate a Settlement? Part I

By Sherrie Savett The Motivation to Vacate Often the parties in a hotly contested case want to settle, but the removal of a negative opinion affecting one side or the other is even more important than the money involved.  This can be true for defendants who want to remove a […]

Court Allows False Claims Act Case Involving Janssen’s HIV/AIDS Drugs to Proceed

On May 31, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey allowed relators’ False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuit against Janssen to proceed to litigation.  United States et al. v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., Civ. A. No. 12-7758, 2017 WL 2367050 (D.N.J. May 31, 2017).  Although […]

Circuit Court Endorses Tri-Partite Inquiry in Analyzing Medical Necessity Under the False Claims Act

On May 1, 2017, in United States ex rel. Petratos v. Genentech, Inc., 855 F.3d 481 (3d Cir. 2017), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit endorsed a tri-partite approach in analyzing the medical necessity theory of liability under the False Claims Act.  While the Third Circuit […]

History and Purpose of the Public Disclosure Bar

Early Public Disclosure Bar In the early 1940s, some enterprising individuals filed False Claims Act (“FCA”) actions based not on their own independent knowledge of a fraud but on information revealed in criminal indictments. S.Rep. No. 99–345, at 10–11 (1986).  This harmed the government because the FCA required the government […]

Bringing a False Claims Act Case Without Identifying Specific Claims to the Government

We wrote earlier about the important holding in one of this Firm’s cases, U.S. ex rel. Groat v. Boston Heart Diagnostics Corp., 2017 WL 2533341 (D.D.C. June 9, 2017), regarding the responsibility of a medical laboratory to ascertain whether lab tests ordered by physicians are medically necessary. That opinion also […]

The False Claims Act’s Public Disclosure Bar Routinely Results in Windfalls to Fraudsters

In 1986, in an effort “to strike a balance between encouraging private persons to root out fraud and stifling parasitic lawsuits,” United States ex rel. Zizic v. Q2Administrators, LLC, 728 F.3d 228, 235 (3d Cir. 2013), Congress narrowed the the public disclosure bar so that more whistleblowers would file cases. […]

Morganti Legal, P.C. Announces Shareholder Investigation of Colt Resources, Inc.

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Morganti Legal, P.C., announces that it has been contacted by investors to investigate Colt Resources, Inc. (TSX-V: “GTP” and CUSIP: “196874”) and Nikolas Perrault, the Company’s former President and Chief Executive Officer. The focus of the investigation concerns the unauthorized and unannounced allocation of the Company’s capital to Turcolt […]

Health First Entities Agree to Pay $3.5 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Lawsuit

Health First, Inc. and related entities have agreed to pay $3.5 million to resolve a False Claims Act lawsuit filed in 2014 by a whistleblower (the “relator”). The related entities include Health First, Inc., Health First Health Plans, Inc., Health First Medical Group, Holmes Regional Medical Center, Palm Bay Hospital, […]

Detour Gold Settlement Receives Court Approval

Morganti Legal is proud to announce that on June 27, 2017, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the final settlement in this securities class action against Detour Gold Corporation (“Detour“) and its former Chief Executive Officer Gerald Panneton. The claim was brought on behalf of shareholders of Detour who […]

Court Finds That Labs Must Ensure That the Tests They Perform are Medically Necessary

On June 9, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss in the False Claims Act lawsuit titled U.S. et al. ex rel. Tina D. Groat v. Boston Heart Diagnostics Corp., No. CV 15-487 (RBW), 2017 WL 2533341, at *1 (D.D.C. […]

When Does a Drug Manufacturer’s Savings Card Program or Discount Coupon Violate the Anti-Kickback Statute?

A drug manufacturer’s savings card program or discount coupon under which individuals who have Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage receive discounts may violate the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”), unless the drug being purchased is statutorily excluded from Part D coverage.  The key here is that the drug must be excluded […]