Should our courts abandon 150 years of precedent and make it easier for wrongdoers to steal taxpayer funds? Fraudsters surely think so.
Employees-turned-whistleblowers of medical-device manufacturer Exactech Inc. accuse the company of selling defective knee-replacement parts to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies, resulting in additional costly and painful operations. Now the company wants a federal judge to dismiss the case not on its merits, but on the dubious and ahistorical claim that the whistleblowers lack the authority to bring the lawsuit.
The law in question is the False Claims Act (FCA). Its qui tam provision allows whistleblowers, who possess inside knowledge of fraud schemes, to sue perpetrators on behalf of the government to recoup the lost tax dollars and share in any recoveries. Not only has this law been around for more than 150 years in one form or another; it’s become the federal government’s most effective tool to fight fraud.
The FCA’s qui tam provisions are deeply embedded in our nation’s constitutional and legal history. Known as “Lincoln’s Law,” the FCA was signed by President Lincoln to punish war profiteers who defrauded the Union Army during the Civil War. The origins of qui tam in America date back to the founding of our nation. Before the FCA became law, qui tam provisions were enacted during the First Congress by the very men who authored the Constitution.
If this provision were ruled unconstitutional, it would...
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