Four Takeaways from Sixth Circuit Ruling on False Claims Act Liability

Federal and state governments are clearly “feeling their oats” in the area of False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement. FCA enforcement has never been more lucrative, with recoveries doubling to $9 billion over the last year. A large bulk of that profit has come from settlements, meaning that prosecutors’ theories and tactics face no judicial scrutiny. Big profits + little oversight = aggressive pursuit of increasingly novel FCA claims.

Challenges to the government’s FCA theories and positive outcomes are increasingly few and far between, so we will actively assess and promote them whenever they arise. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s October 5 U.S. ex rel Williams v. Renal Care Group opinion firmly rejected federal efforts to expand key aspects of the FCA and offers some important lessons for FCA targets.