False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries topped $3.7 billion in fiscal year 2017, marking the eighth straight year of annual recoveries in excess of $3 billion. Healthcare cases, including ones involving drug and device companies, accounted for most of the total, at roughly $2.47 billion. Recoveries in Defense Department cases increased to approximately $220 million, nearly double the 2016 figure, and the number of government-initiated cases in that sector more than doubled, reflecting in part the results of investigations from the country's long-running military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. The value of settlements and judgments in the non-healthcare and non-defense category dropped by half to roughly $1 billion, of which more than $500 million was from the financial services sector. In 2017, 674 new qui tam cases were filed—an average of more than 12 a week—down from the year before but still at historically high levels.1
In 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) continued to stress its focus on individual accountability, noting a number of substantial awards against individuals in cases also involving corporate entities and more than $60 million in awards against individuals not involving joint-and-several liability with corporate entities.2
To read this Review in full, please click here.
Footnotes
1. The figures in this paragraph come from the following Justice Department documents: Civil Division, US Dep't of Justice, Fraud Statistics--Overview (Dec. 19, 2017), https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1020126/download; Civil Division, US Dep't of Justice, Fraud Statistics—Health and Human Services (Dec. 19, 2017), https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1020116/download; Civil Division, US Dep't of Justice, Fraud Statistics—Department of Defense (Dec. 19, 2017), https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1020111/download; Civil Division, US Dep't of Justice, Fraud Statistics—Other (Non-HHS, Non-DOD) (Dec. 19, 2017), https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1020121/download (Dec. 21, 2017); and Press Release, Off. of Public Affairs, US Dep't of Justice, Justice Department Recovers Over $3.7 Billion from False Claims Act Cases in Fiscal Year 2017 (Dec. 21, 2017), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-recovers-over-37-billion-false-claims-act-cases-fiscal-year-2017.
2. Press Release, Off. of Public Affairs, US Dep't of Justice, Justice Department Recovers Over $3.7 Billion from False Claims Act Cases in Fiscal Year 2017 (Dec. 21, 2017), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-recovers-over-37-billion-false-claims-act-cases-fiscal-year-2017.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.