The US Supreme Court will hear a whistleblower’s False Claims Act suit that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) had previously moved to throw out. In this Law360 article, McDermott Partner Tony Maida offers perspective about the DOJ’s 2018 Granston memo.
“It does not make sense for the government to need to justify its decision to dismiss a case brought on its behalf,” Maida said. “Reducing the ability of DOJ to dismiss cases would erase some of those positive results of the Granston memo.”
As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare fraud enforcement remains a top priority for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and other government agencies with enforcement authority. In this Westlaw Today article, McDermott Partners Laura McLane, Tony Maida and Dana M. McSherry describe some of the areas that have assumed particularly high enforcement priority, including private equity, telehealth and pandemic relief funds.
Healthcare and life sciences lawyers will likely have plenty of work in 2022 thanks to pending legislative and regulatory actions throughout the healthcare, health insurance, and drug and device industries.
According to this Law360 article, surprise billing, abortion and drug pricing are some of the major issues facing lawmakers and regulators in the year ahead. McDermott Partner Michael Ryan noted that changes to the Medical Device User Fee Amendments (MDUFA) also could be in order.
Even though the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit temporarily blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccination rule for employers (though not for the healthcare sector), businesses should continue preparing for important OSHA deadlines.
According to this Reuters article, workplace whistleblowers and fears of disappearing federal funds will likely help with vaccination mandates within businesses, hospitals and nursing homes. However, OSHA is unlikely to demand proof from every healthcare provider of vaccination and testing protocols. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also typically does not survey accredited healthcare providers unless there is a complaint or a need for recertification, McDermott Partner Sandra DiVarco noted.
“On a stakeholder call, CMS reiterated their desire to work with providers to come into compliance and not to sort of send SWAT teams to go out and look for problems,” DiVarco said.
Amanda Enyeart and Lisa Schmitz Mazur wrote this bylined article explaining how the HHS Office of Inspector General used a survey by the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program run by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to conclude that CMS made $729 million in inappropriate EHR incentive payments to physicians out of some $6 billion in such payments during the review period.
On September 19 and 27, 2016, the US Department of Justice announced two False Claims Act settlements that required corporate executives to make substantial monetary payments to resolve their liability. How will director and executive liability be impacted by the Yates Memo and False Claims Act in an evolving health care climate?
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