Reported False Claims Act decisions do not frequently concern discovery issues, particularly in cases based on alleged Anti-Kickback Statute violations against healthcare defendants, which are not often litigated beyond dismissal motions. But two recent district court decisions in litigated AKS cases raise interesting issues regarding discovery against the government on causation and the geographic limits on discovery:
- United States ex rel. Fesenmaier v. Cameron-Ehlen Group, Inc., in which the court required the government to provide a written statement of whether it had actual evidence (rather than presumption) that false claims “resulted from” alleged kickbacks.
- United States ex rel. CKD Project, LLC v. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co., in which the court denied a relator’s motion to compel nationwide discovery against a defendant charged with paying doctors to refer patients via illegal joint ventures.
