Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries
Federal Government Urges Court of Appeals to Uphold Constitutionality of FCA Qui Tam Provisions
In a brief filed earlier this week, the US federal government has urged the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the constitutionality of the False Claims Act’s (FCA) qui tam provisions, challenging a Florida district court’s ruling that found them to be unconstitutional.
The appeal stems from an underlying case with relator Clarissa Zafirov, who filed a qui tam action in 2019 against several health care entities, accusing them of misrepresenting patient conditions to Medicare. While the government initially declined to intervene, it later elected to defend the constitutionality of the FCA’s provisions.
At the district court level, the court found that whistleblowers are officers of…