On January 19, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling granting summary judgment to a specialty pharmacy that was accused of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute and the federal False Claims Act (United States ex rel. Greenfield v. Medco Health Solutions, Inc. et al., No. 17-1152.). The court held that the relator, a former vice president of the specialty pharmacy, failed to link the pharmacy’s alleged kickback scheme to the actual submission of claims to Medicare. The decision is important because it stands for the proposition that to be liable under the False Claims Act a relator must allege more than the defendant was submitting claims for federal health care program beneficiaries while engaging in kickbacks. Rather, it must allege that at least one claim was submitted for services that were provided in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Continue Reading Temporal Proximity Is Not Enough: Third Circuit Nixes FCA/Anti-Kickback Suit For Failure To Link Alleged Scheme to Claims