According to the Department of Justice’s year-end report, the Department recovered more than $3 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the United States in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2019.

As in prior years, the vast majority of these recovered funds are attributable to whistleblower lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act.  Of the more than $3 billion recovered by the United States, approximately $2.1 billion is the result of qui tam lawsuits brought by whistleblowers. Whistleblower also filed 633 qui tam suits in fiscal year 2019 – an average of more than 12 new cases every week.

Under the False Claims Act, successful whistleblowers are entitled to a share of any recovery by the United States, and in 2019, whistleblowers received a total of $265 million in relator share payments from the United States.

The vast majority of the funds recovered involved fraud in the health care industry (e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare)—which includes drug and medical device manufacturers, hospitals, pharmacies, hospice organizations and physicians.

To read the DOJ’s press release, click here.

To learn more about our Whistleblower & Qui Tam practice click here. Our firm is located in Nashville, Tennessee but we represent whistleblowers all around the country. Call us today at (615) 244-2202.