Whistleblower Awards

Since 1986, private citizens acting as whistleblowers have been awarded a total of over $1.6 billion in False Claims Act cases.  In fiscal year 2005 alone, qui tam lawsuits resulted in recoveries of $1.1 billion, with the relators' share totaling $166 million.  Whistleblowers' awards are up nearly 50 percent since fiscal year 2004.

To give private citizens an incentive to uncover and report fraud, Congress decided to award relators with a percentage of the money the government recovers as a result of qui tam lawsuits. Under the False Claims Act, a relator is entitled to 15 to 25 percent of the government's total recovery, including treble damages and penalties, if the government intervenes in the qui tam case.  If the government declines to intervene, and the relator pursues the case, the award amount goes up to 25 to 30 percent.

The following are examples of qui tam lawsuits which have settled in recent years:
 

• Tenet Healthcare - Tenet was sued under the False Claims Act for performing unnecessary heart surgeries in Redding Medical Center.  Michael A. Hirst of our firm represented the United States in the case, which resulted in a total settlement of over $500 million.  The recovery to the government in the qui tam case totaled $62,550,000, including an initial $54 million payment by the hospital, with subsequent payments by Tenet and individual physicians.
   

• HCA (The Healthcare Company) - HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain in the United States, pled guilty to criminal conduct and agreed to pay $731,400,000 under the False Claims Act.  HCA's frauds included billing for lab tests that were not medically necessary, "upcoding" medical procedures to get higher reimbursement, billing the government for advertising under the guise of "community education," and billing the government for non-reimbursable costs incurred in the purchase of home health agencies.
   

• TAP (Taketa-Abbott Pharmaceutical) Pharmaceutical Products Inc. - TAP agreed to pay $559,483,560 under the False Claims Act to resolve allegations of fraudulent drug pricing and marketing of Lupron, a drug sold for the treatment of prostate cancer.  As part of the scheme, TAP gave doctors kickbacks by providing free samples with the knowledge that the physicians would bill Medicare and Medicaid $500 per dose.
   

• BankAmerica - BankAmerica paid $184 million to settle charges that it illegally kept unclaimed bond proceeds from the state of California and more than 1,000 cities, counties and public agencies statewide.
   

• United Technologies - United Technologies agreed to pay the government $150 million to settle claims that the company's Sikorsky Aircraft Division improperly billed the Department of Defense for sales of helicopters.
   

• Beverly Enterprises, Inc. - Beverly Enterprises, Inc., the nation's largest nursing home chain, agreed to pay $175 million to settle allegations that it defrauded the Medicare program.  The fraud involved nursing home workers charging Medicare for time not spent on Medicare patients.  Instead of recording the true time spent on the patients, the nursing home chain fabricated the records to maximize profits.

The information in this website is not intended to be legal advice.  We recommend that anyone not currently represented by an attorney who is reading this page to understand the law involved in False Claims Act or other cases seek experienced counsel to evaluate, file and pursue, if appropriate, any potential case on your behalf.