Federal and State Whistleblower Cases

Both federal and state False Claims Acts contain "qui tam" laws that allow a person or company with specific knowledge of fraud on the government to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government and recieve a share of up to 30% of the proceeds from such lawsuit.  These laws are often referred to as "whistleblower" laws.  They were originally enacted during the time of the Civil War to combat rampant fraud against the federal government.  In essence, the False Claims Act prohibits the submission of false claims for payment where government funds are involved. The False Claims Act is the government's primary weapon and enfrocement tool against fraud, waste and abuse in the healthcare industry, inculding Medicaid and Medicare. 

On May 20, 2009, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 was signed into law.  It includes the most comprehensive and significant amendments to the civil False Claims Act in nearly 25 years.  Since the last major amendments to the Federal False Claims Act in 1986, through and including the fiscal year 2008, a total of 10,063 cases were filed under the civil Federal False Claims Act.  Thrity-eight percent (3,864) of these cases were filed by the government without a whistleblower being involved while 6,199 or 62 percent of these cases were initiated by and filed by qui tam whistleblowers.  Through settlements and judgments, the government has recovered nearly $22 billion during this time. Of this amount, approximately $14 billion has come from cases brought under the Act's whistleblower provisions with almost $2.2 billion going to the whistleblowers.

The attorneys at Tashjian & Padian have experience representing clients in False Claims Act/Whistleblower cases.  Contact the lawyers at Tashjian & Padian to discuss how we can assist you with with your matter.