Category Archives: Whistleblower News

Congress intended the False Claims Act to apply broadly and reach all fraudulent attempts to cause the United States Government to pay out money. In Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, a key case pending before the United States Supreme Court, the Petitioner has urged a counter-textual interpretation that would vitiate the False Claims Act and compromise Congress’ intent.  On behalf of a distinguished group of law professors, Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC has filed an amicus brief in the matter.

The amicus brief proposes a comprehensive model, the application of which will ensure the Act continues to effectuate Congress’ intent.  As the brief explains, the starting point for determining whether conduct is fraudulent and should be captured by the Act begins by looking to principles of common law fraud. However, Congress expanded upon the liability available under the False Claims Act, specifically by eliminating traditional reliance and scienter requirements of common law. Application of the Act’s statutory provisions expanding liability, coupled with use of limiting principles of materiality – routinely applied to other fraud statutes to ensure minor violations are not cognizable – balances concerns of the Act’s over-expansion with its stated purpose to broadly reach all fraudulent or deceitful acts that cause the Government to pay out money.

The full amicus brief is available here: Universal Health Services Inc v US and Massachusetts, ex rel Escobar and Correa – Brief of Law Professors as Amici.

by Sheila Kaplan (Statnews.com)

Washington – Physicians across the United States routinely offer medical advice on social media — but often fail to mention that they have accepted tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars from the companies that make the prescription drugs they tout.

A STAT examination of hundreds of social media accounts shows that health care professionals virtually never note their conflicts of interest, some of them significant, when promoting drugs or medical devices on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The practice cuts across all specialties.

. . .

But Reuben Guttman, an attorney in Washington who specializes in food and drug law, said the system leaves patients vulnerable to misinformation.

“Doctors who accept these dollars and then turn around and promote on social media corrupt the market for honest medical information,” Guttman said. “And drug companies that pay these doctors are similarly poisoning the market for honest information.”

Read the full article at statnews.com.