An important threshold question in qui tam cases under the False Claims Act is whether the relator-whistleblower is the original source of the information forming the basis for the claim. This is because qui tam actions under the False Claims Act are subject to a public disclosure bar, which provides that a court shall dismiss an action or claim if substantially the same allegations or transactions as alleged in the action or claim were publicly disclosed. Similarly stated, under the Act, an original source is one who has knowledge that is independent of and materially adds to the publicly disclosed allegations or transactions.
In a recently decided case, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court order dismissing a complaint that had been filed by CKD Project (“CKD”) as a whistleblower against Fresenius Medical Care Holdings and certain related companies (“Fresenius”) alleging that Fresenius purchased dialysis centers or interests in dialysis centers from physician-owners in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute by paying in excess of fair market value for those centers — the overpayments allegedly serving to induce the physicians to refer patients to the newly acquired centers.
The case was dismissed pursuant to the public disclosure bar and it provides an excellent example of how that bar is analyzed and applied generally and, in particular, where the defendant has made disclosures in regulatory filings and the relator-whistleblower asserts...
CLAIM: Video claiming President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had resigned. RATING: FALSE A YouTube video falsely claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had stepped down from office amid continue...