Photo of Andrew Lu

The Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that its False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries for civil cases raked in approximately $2.7 billion for fiscal year 2023, representing a $450 million jump from 2022 recoveries.  Of the $2.7 billion recovered by the DOJ for 2023, approximately $1.8 billion (67%) came from the health care sector.

The real headline, however, may be the record-setting number of new FCA cases initiated in 2023 ­–– 500 initiated by the government and 712 initiated by private relators, for a total 1,212 new cases, over 250 more than the next-highest year (2022). Previous trends aside, this signals busy times ahead for the FCA.Continue Reading DOJ Announces $2.7 Billion in FCA Recoveries and Enforcement Priorities

On February 16, 2023, the Federal Bar Association (FBA) kicked off its sixth annual Qui Tam Conference with its customary “Year in Review” panel, which spotlighted the key False Claims Act (FCA) decisions and developments from 2022. Consistent with the annual press release and FCA recovery statistics issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier this month, the panel made clear that despite lower recoveries, 2022 was a busy and important year for FCA enforcement.

For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, total FCA recoveries surpassed $2.2 billion. Although this number represented a drop of more than 50% from 2021 when FCA recoveries exceeded $5.7 billion due to several high-profile settlements, 2022 saw a record amount of FCA enforcement activity, with 948 new FCA matters initiated, and 351 settlements and judgments under the FCA: the second-highest number recorded in a single year.Continue Reading FCA enforcement going strong in 2022, particularly in declined health care qui tams

On February 23, 2022, the Federal Bar Association (FBA) kicked off its fifth annual Qui Tam Conference to highlight key areas for False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement in the coming year. The conference opened with a keynote address by Gregory E. Demske, Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG). Then, a series of panels analyzed the FCA-related developments from the prior year, recent efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat cybersecurity fraud, and some of the schemes promoting alleged telehealth fraud during the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency. Based on the comments of government speakers, all speaking in their individual capacities, below are key takeaways of what we expect the government to prioritize in 2022:

Pandemic-related fraud and telehealth fraud are key targets

Reinforcing the DOJ’s current enforcement priorities, we expect the DOJ to continue to focus its resources and enforcement activity on where it stands to recover the most dollars swiftly: pandemic-related fraud (e.g., misuse of CARES Act relief funds) and telehealth fraud.

During his keynote address, Demske similarly acknowledged these two areas of focus and added Medicare Advantage, the opioid epidemic, and nursing homes as ongoing priorities for OIG enforcement. Notably, Demske cited OIG’s Data Analytics Group as a robust resource for the agency to identify anomalies in large data sets (e.g., outlier distributions of CARES Act provider relief funds) that may lead to targeted enforcement.

For more information about the fraud and abuse implications of CARES Act provider relief funds, as well as practical tips for navigating the evolving CARES Act regulatory environment, please check this Reed Smith client alert.
Continue Reading FBA’s 2022 Qui Tam Conference Puts Annual Spotlight on FCA Enforcement Trends and Developments

On October 5, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) published a final rule to establish requirements for the medical device De Novo classification process under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The final rule, which takes effect January 3, 2022, comes nearly three years after the FDA first proposed it and, notably, sets forth the procedures and criteria for a manufacturer’s voluntary submission and withdrawal of a De Novo request.  Additionally, the rule clarifies how agency staff intends to accept and review the requests, as well as how FDA staff will determine whether to grant or decline the requests.  Finally, the rule also provides a way for combination products to use the De Novo pathway.

Useful for novel, low risk medical devices

The implementation of the De Novo classification process is especially significant for manufacturers of novel, low-risk medical devices.  Prior to the De Novo program, which was created in 1997, any device that lacked a predicate automatically became designated as a Class III device and, therefore, required premarket approval to legally reach the market.  Because this premarket pathway is designed to regulate the riskiest category of devices, manufacturers typically had to endure longer than anticipated wait times for approval of their low-risk devices.Continue Reading FDA codifies requirements for the medical device De Novo classification process

On May 14, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new final rule that further delays until December 15, 2021, the effective date of the final rule titled “Medicare Program; Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT) and Definition of ‘Reasonable and Necessary’” (the January 2021 Rule), which was published in the

With another presidential transition in the history books, you may find it unsurprising to hear that many of us at Reed Smith are continuing to closely monitor and track which of the outgoing Trump administration’s “midnight regulations” will survive past the early months of the Biden administration. But for those less familiar with the topic

With 2020 coming to a close, businesses are looking ahead to 2021 and evaluating how they can stay open while keeping their employees and patrons safe.  In an effort to resolve this seemingly open question, just this week, the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) unveiled an innovative online mechanism that may give businesses the tools

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released complementary rules this past Friday, November 20, 2020, to modernize and clarify the regulations that interpret the Physician Self-Referral Law (the Stark Law) and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

As we wrote when the proposed rules were released last autumn (see client alerts here and here),

On September 15, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to state Medicaid directors on how to advance value-based care (VBC) across their health care systems, with an emphasis on Medicaid populations, and how to share pathways for adoption­ of such approaches.  Within the 33-page letter, CMS highlights the merits of

As technology has advanced over the years, there has been a corresponding push for virtual visits with health care providers.  In fact, many state boards of medicine and other regulatory agencies have sought to amend regulations and guidances to make telehealth a reality for patients across the U.S.  However, despite the technical allowance for telehealth,