The Sixth Circuit recently handed down a decision in United States v. Wal-Mart Stores E., LP that highlights several demanding pleading pitfalls that can short-circuit an FCA complaint at the motion to dismiss stage.
The relator, a Wal-Mart pharmacist, suspected that Wal-Mart was filling fraudulent prescriptions for excessive dosages of opiates, resulting in the submission of false claims to government healthcare programs. After he surreptitiously obtained one unidentified patient’s records and brought his concerns to his supervisor, Wal-Mart allegedly fired him. The relator filed suit, bringing claims for substantive FCA violations, FCA conspiracy, and retaliation. The district court dismissed the complaint in full.
On appeal, the Sixth Circuit Court’s order first hammered home the heightened pleading standard of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b), which requires claims brought under the FCA to be pled with particularity.
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