Sept 6 (Reuters) - Planned Parenthood is challenging a decades-old law allowing whistleblowers to bring fraud lawsuits on behalf of the government, in a bid to defeat a $1.8 billion lawsuit by an anonymous anti-abortion activist and the state of Texas seeking to recover money they claim the organization illegally took from Medicaid.
In a filing in Amarillo, Texas, federal court on Friday, Planned Parenthood argued that the so-called "qui tam" provision of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) lets private citizens take on the role of government officials enforcing the law, violating the U.S. Constitution's requirement that such officials be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
When a whistleblower, known as a relator, sues under the FCA, the U.S. government has a choice of whether or not to intervene. If the case is successful, the relator is awarded a share of the recovery.
"In fact, FCA relators are not 'appointed' to their positions by anyone other than themselves," Planned Parenthood said, arguing that the case must be thrown out.
In Friday's filing, Planned Parenthood cited a dissent by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and partial concurrences from Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney...
You don't have permission to access "http://www.marketscreener.com/news/ibma-s-17m-false-claims-act-settlement-what-government-contractors-should-know-ce7e50d3d089ff2d" on this server. Reference #...