False Claim Act Recoveries Set a New Record

The federal False Claims Act (FCA) penalizes people and organizations that submit false claims for payment to the government. The Act also provides incentives to whistleblowers who report the false claims. In 2012, fines and settlements in federal FCA cases and in cases involving similar state laws totaled more than $9 billion, a record-breaking amount, which was more than twice last year’s recoveries of $4 billion. Out of the 30 largest recoveries this year, 28 involved whistleblowers.

Observers attribute the increase in recoveries to large cases against pharmaceutical companies and new enforcement against banking and mortgage fraud. In fiscal year 2012, the largest recovery was a $3 billion settlement — $2 billion in criminal penalties and $1 billion in civil penalties — from pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline for illegal marketing of various prescription drugs, according to a chart published by Taxpayers Against Fraud. The second-largest recovery was also a settlement with a pharmaceutical company, Abbott Laboratories, which paid $1.5 billion for off-label drug marketing. 

WeComply’s 25-minute online whistleblowing training course fulfills requirements in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 that organizations receiving $5 million or more per

year in Medicaid funds inform their employees of the False Claims Act, federal whistleblower-protection laws, and similar state laws.

Categories: Healthcare
Tags: Healthcare Fraud and Abuse