In a recent, noteworthy decision under the public disclosure bar, the Sixth Circuit rejected the claims of a relator whose “input consist[ed] solely of putting more flesh on [a] fraud scheme, of which the bones were already public.”
In United States ex rel. Rahimi v. Rite Aid Corp., relator Azam Rahimi alleged that Rite Aid overbilled government healthcare programs by failing to offer them an equivalent-or-better discount than that offered to other healthcare programs through Rite Aid’s “Rx Savings Program”—i.e., “the usual and customary charge to the general public”. Relator suspected fraud after reviewing Rite Aid ads and then reached out to a former classmate and Rite Aid pharmacist, John Doe, for more information. Mr. Doe then reached out to his cousin, a Rite Aid customer and Medicaid beneficiary, to gather receipts, which he shared with Rahimi. Rahimi filed his qui tam suit in May 2011.
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