Analysis of the DOJ’s Reported $3.7 Billion in False Claims Act Recoveries in FY 2017 Reveals Continued Aggressive Use of the False Claims Act by the Government and Qui Tam Relators

Reprinted with permission from Pratt’s Government Contracting Law Report. Any opinions in this article are not those of Winston & Strawn or its clients. The opinions in this article are the authors’ opinions only.

Late last year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual False Claims Act (FCA) recovery statistics and announced that it obtained over $3.7 billion in settlements and judgments in fiscal year 2017 from civil cases involving government program fraud and false claims. Although this marked a $1 billion decline in recoveries from the previous fiscal year, the DOJ’s announcements and underlying statistics regarding its FCA recoveries reveal the continued aggressive use of the FCA by the government and qui tam relators in efforts to combat fraud—particularly in the health care industry. It also reveals a continuation of the recent focus on holding individuals accountable.

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