Gretchen Heinze Townshend

Feb 23, 2024 | jdsupra.com | Timothy Fry |Gretchen Heinze Townshend

Is Your Entity in Compliance? Financial relationships with an independent contractor in a position to make or influence referrals of federal healthcare program business can implicate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), Stark Law and various state law equivalents. Fortunately, if properly structured, these financial arrangements can fit within statutory and regulatory guidance from state and federal agencies charged with monitoring these relationships.

Jul 24, 2023 | lexblog.com | Edwin Childs |Michael J. Podberesky |Jonathan Ellis |Gretchen Heinze Townshend

The U.S. Supreme Court recently resolved a circuit split by holding that, in a False Claims Act action, (1) the government may seek dismissal of a qui tam case in which the government initially declined to intervene over the relator’s objection so long as it later intervened in the litigation, and (2) district courts should apply Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a), which says the government has broad latitude to seek dismissal.

Jun 26, 2023 | mondaq.com | Michael J. Podberesky |Edwin Childs |Michael Francisco |Gretchen Heinze Townshend

On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of whistleblower plaintiffs (referred to as "relators") in consolidated False Claims Act ("FCA") cases in a decision that clarified the application of the FCA's knowledge requirement. In United States ex rel. Schutte v.