False Claims Act settlements top $750M in first half of 2019

I wanted our readers to know that the federal government is serious about curing healthcare fraud.

The Department of Justice announced more than $750 million in False Claims Act settlements in the first half of this year, with the bulk of recoveries involving healthcare fraud, according to an analysis by Los Angeles-based law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

The half-year settlement total represents a slight increase from the first half of 2018. However, the $750 million in settlements is down from half-year highs set in recent years, according to the report.

“Although DOJ’s recoveries came from cases reflecting a wide variety of theories of FCA liability, cases involving alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law, which generally prohibit various types of remunerative arrangements with referring healthcare providers, continued to predominate,” states the report.

Alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute resulted in several large recoveries in the first half of 2019. In one notable settlement, the Justice Department recovered more than $200 million from an opioid manufacturer accused of paying kickbacks, according to the report.