Opinion ID: 179830
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Government's False Claims Act Suit

Text: In 2002, the federal government instituted litigation against Rogan under the federal False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733, for the submission of false Medicare and Medicaid claims for patients referred to EMC. [1] In that case, the district court found that Rogan conspired with another EMC officer and physicians to pay kickbacks and other improper benefits to the physicians in return for patient referrals. These referrals resulted in substantial profits for Rogan. See Rogan I, 459 F.Supp.2d at 700. Although the government's lawsuit focused on particular false claims submitted from 1995 through 2000, the district court found that [t]he conspiracy was evident in the early 1990s. Id. The court also concluded that the conspiracy began (albeit on an apparently smaller scale) at least as early as 1993. See id. (findings related to dealings between Roger Ehmen and Dr. Ravi Barnabas); id. at 722 (findings related to Dr. Barnabas). The court concluded that the government proved that, from 1995 through 2000, Rogan caused EMC to submit over $19 million in false claims to Medicare and Medicaid. Id. at 727.