The False Claims Act allows those with knowledge of a fraud on the government’s budget, called “relators” to recover public funds on behalf of the government, and share in a certain portion of whatever is recovered. This is called a “qui tam” lawsuit, short for a latin phrase that translates roughly to “for the king and for himself”. If you have knowledge of wrongfully-paid Medicare or other government health care funds, fraudulently inflated billing on a contract between a company and the military or other government entity, or any other fraudulent or deceitful conduct against the government, you may be able to serve as a relator in a qui tam lawsuit.
The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) regulates the use of medical devices in the United States, and Medicare often pays for the use of medical devices regulated by the FDA on patients. The FDCA and its regulations mandate manufacturer registration, submission of clinical trial data, testing of medical devices, good manufacturing practices, injury surveillance, and other practices that ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical devices intended for human use. If these requirements are violated for a device, Medicare cannot legally pay for the device’s use. If you know of a medical device manufacturer, either your employer or another, that engages in significant regulatory or safety violations despite Medicare coverage of the device’s use, you may be able to recover wrongfully paid Medicare funds on behalf of the government in a “whistleblower” lawsuit under the False Claims Act.
Contractors often falsify records, make misleading claims, or conjure up outright lies, in requesting payment by the government, whether it be for construction, health care, or military projects. All too often, taxpayer money in the public budget is wasted on fraudulent claims that the government wouldn’t have paid if it had known what a contractor wasn’t disclosing. Because of a law called the False Claims Act if you know of fraudulent requests for payment from the government, whether it be by health care providers, government contractors, or other entities, you may be able to serve as a “relator” in a whistleblower or “qui tam” case on behalf of the government. Relators under the False Claims Act, if successful, are entitled to a share in whatever wrongfully-paid funds the government recovers in the case.
Kirtland & Packard LLP’s experienced attorneys represent qui tam relators that have independent knowledge of frauds on the government’s budget. If you know of a contractor defrauding the public of taxpayer money, the attorneys of Kirtland & Packard can assist you and the government in recovering those wrongfully-paid funds under the federal or state False Claims Acts.