On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision holding that the scienter element of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) is met if a defendant subjectively knew his or her claims were false and submitted them anyway. See United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. and United States ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway. The Court’s ruling was narrow and avoided the more challenging—and common—issues raised during oral argument (which we blogged about previously).Continue Reading Supreme Court Clarifies that Subjective (Not Objective) Knowledge of Falsity of Claim Dictates False Claims Act Liability

Last week’s argument before the Supreme Court in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar had the potential to put false claims based on an “implied certification” in the crosshairs. Instead, based on the weight of questioning by a plurality of justices, it appears that some form of implied certification theory may survive. (We previously reported on this case, here.)
Continue Reading Did the FCA’s “Implied Certification” Theory Dodge a Bullet?