On February 7, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release indicating that settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act (FCA) exceeded $2.2 billion in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022. Of this total, over $1.7 billion came from claims involving the healthcare industry.

The DOJ has shown no signs of slowing down in 2023. Indeed, we have seen a number of noteworthy FCA settlements in the first quarter of the calendar year 2023. Several of these settlements top $20 million, with one coming in over $200 million. This post summarizes key settlements of interest.

Physicians and Healthcare Practices

• On January 9, a physician and her practice agreed to pay $1.85 million to resolve allegations that she billed federal healthcare programs for testing and procedures performed on patients who were not qualified for the procedures or had been falsely diagnosed to justify the treatments. The procedures allegedly injured some patients. Additionally, some of the tests were allegedly performed using broken equipment or not interpreted in the medical record.

• On January 12, an orthopedic practice, its owner, and a subsidiary agreed to pay more than $1.87 million to resolve FCA allegations that they billed Medicare and Medicaid for a brand-name product used in knee injections while instead using an inexpensive compounded agent for the injections.

• On February 2, a healthcare services provider agreed to pay almost $26 million to resolve self-disclosed...

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