National Law Journal: Ogden Pushes for False Claims Act Changes on Behalf of ILR
The National Law Journal reports on former U.S. Deputy Attorney General David Ogden’s House testimony on behalf of ILR in support of changes to the False Claims Act.
Ogden, who now serves as Chair, Government and Regulatory Litigation Practice Group at WilmerHale, told “lawmakers that one of the law’s provisions is ‘completely irrational,’” reports the NLJ.
The law, Ogden said, requires courts to impose civil monetary penalties between $5,500 and $11,000 per false claim if it goes to judgment.
“That means a health care company that does $10 million in business with $50 prescriptions can face penalties over $1 billion,” Ogden told the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice. “A company with one invoice of $10 million faces $11,000 penalty,” he said.
“It’s irrational, and it drives companies to settle frivolous cases, and it should be changed,” Ogden testified. “It doesn’t make any sense. There’s no other law like it that I’m aware of.”
The NLJ reports that Ogden wants lawmakers to consider ILR’s proposed amendments to the False Claims Act and notes that Ogden was an author of the ILR-released report “Fixing the False Claims Act.” That report says “the law is too dependent on whistleblower litigation and should encourage better corporate compliance.”
“The FCA is an important tool, but in an era of exploding government regulations, it needs to be updated.” said ILR President Lisa A. Rickard, in a statement released yesterday. “To be effective, the FCA should be upgraded to focus more on preventing fraud from happening in the first place, rather than solely relying on after-the-fact litigation.”
Read the full story here.
