Reuters Publishes State AGs Article by Martine Cicconi, Mark Herring
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“State attorneys general see wins in Supreme Court decision on False Claims Act,” an article by Akin state attorneys general (AG) practice co-heads Martine Cicconi and Mark Herring, has been published by Reuters.
The article looks at two cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court—United States et al. ex rel. Schutte et al. v. Supervalu Inc. et al. and United States, ex rel. Thomas Proctor v. Safeway, Inc. —both of which involved the scope of the False Claims Act (FCA). The authors note by way of background that the FCA “allows private-citizen whistleblowers — called relators in court — to file claims against individuals or entities alleging they have defrauded the government by submitting false claims. When such actions, known as qui tam suits, are successful, relators share in the government's recovery.”
The cases involved relators’ claims, they write, that retail pharmacies overcharged the government for Medicare and Medicaid refunds by “citing as their ‘usual and customary’ prices for prescription drugs prices that did not account for discounts most customers received.” The Court reversed a 7th Circuit finding that the pharmacies had not acted with the requisite knowledge to incur liability under the FCA because the definition of “usual and customary” behind their claims was objectively reasonable.
The authors describe the Court’s decision and its significance for the U.S. as well as the position of states involved in the case through their AGs.
They close by noting that many questions remain outstanding in the wake of the Schutte decision and write, “State AGs will continue to remain actively engaged in litigation seeking to answer those and other questions about the proper construction of the FCA. And, charged with protecting taxpayers and wanting to ensure the integrity of state programs and procurements, State AGs can likewise be expected to continue to pursue investigations and enforcement actions arising under the FCA and its state analogs.”
To read the full article, click here.
