In assessing damages, issues often arise as to what constitutes a false claim for purposes of triggering the civil penalty provisions. Some Government contractors  have submitted or used thousands of false claims in their dealings with the Government. Also, these contracts often involve millions, if not billions, of dollars. In an employee time card cheating case, for example, tens of thousands of potential false claims exist, each representing a $10,000 civil penalty.

While Medicare cases are particularly likely to involve large numbers of false claims disproportionate to actual damages, the Government prefers to pursue cases where there is "actual damage" to the public purse, not "just penalties" cases. Thus, there are both practical and legal restraints on the number of separate civil penalties that can be recovered successfully.

Civil penalty provisions, when accompanied by criminal prosecution, could bankrupt some defendants or raise constitutional issues involving the Constitution's double jeopardy clause. These issues are discussed by the Supreme Court in a case entitled United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435 (1989).

 

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