2025 is already shaping up to be an active year for False Claims Act (FCA) litigation. With the recent announcements of executive orders that may expand the FCA as an enforcement tool, as discussed in a recent Troutman Pepper Locke client alert, everyone is keeping a close eye on what is next. In the past few weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court has gotten in on the FCA action.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and 18 state attorneys general (AG) announced a settlement with Boston-based QOL Medical, LLC (QOL) and its CEO, Frederick Cooper, to resolve allegations that the company provided unlawful kickbacks to health care providers. Under the terms of the settlement, QOL and Cooper agreed to pay $47 million to resolve allegations that QOL manipulated health care providers into prescribing a drug called Sucraid — an FDA-approved therapy for a rare genetic disorder, Congenital Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency (CSID). Regulators alleged that QOL and Cooper violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and federal and state False Claims Acts.
Published in Law360 on July 16, 2024. © Copyright 2024, Portfolio Media, Inc., publisher of Law360. Reprinted here with permission.
Gone are the days when state attorneys general leave antitrust enforcement to their federal counterparts at the Federal Trade Commission or the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
State attorneys general have become considerably more active in the antitrust space over the past several years, and there seems to be no sign of slowing down.
On February 23, U.S. District Judge Clifton L. Corker of the Eastern District of Tennessee granted a preliminary injunction requested by the Tennessee and Virginia attorneys generals (AG) against the NCAA’s “NIL-recruiting ban.” This ban prohibits boosters and collectives from discussing name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities with student-athletes before they commit to a school. The court found that the AGs had established both a likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm that would occur without the injunction. This decision could have significant implications for the landscape of college sports.
On February 23, U.S. District Judge Clifton L. Corker of the Eastern District of Tennessee, issued an opinion and order granting the Tennessee and Virginia attorneys generals’ (AG) request for a preliminary injunction enjoining the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from enforcing its so-called “NIL-recruiting ban,” i.e., the current NCAA guidance that prohibits boosters and collectives from communicating with student-athletes about name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities before they commit to a particular school. The court found the AGs had established both a likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm that would occur absent imposition of the preliminary injunction. By granting the preliminary injunction, the court has set off a series of events that are sure to have wide-ranging implications both on the near- and long-term landscape of college sports.