On February 7, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement statistics for fiscal year (FY) 2022, which ended on September 30, 2022.[1] While total recoveries exceeded $2.2 billion, this is a drop of more than 50 percent from the $5.7 billion recovered in FY 2021, marking the lowest annual reported recovery in 14 years. The total recoveries in fraud cases brought with respect to the health care and life sciences industries fell to the lowest level since 2009.
However, even in a “down” year (the reduction is likely due largely to the lack of major settlements with prescription opioid manufacturers, including a $2.8 billion resolution with one opioid manufacturer in FY 2021), health care and life sciences entities continue to be the primary focus of the enforcement effort by DOJ and relators. Indeed, of the more than $2.2 billion in FCA settlements and judgments reported by DOJ, over $1.7 billion (more than 80 percent of all recoveries) related to matters that involved the health care and life sciences industries, including drug and device manufacturers, durable medical equipment suppliers, home health and managed care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, hospice organizations, and physicians.
As significant, DOJ filed 296 new FCA matters last year—the most in reported history. And,...
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