9th Circuit urged to reverse FCA decision based primarily on statistics

The AHA, California Hospital Association, and Washington State Hospital Association today urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to reverse a district court decision in a lawsuit brought by data analysis company Integra Med Analytics that “gives private plaintiffs broad license to file suits under the False Claims Act in ways that Congress never intended and expressly barred.”

If “professional relators like Integra are permitted to bring suit based primarily on statistical analysis, supplemented with only minimal Internet research, then the courts will be flooded with opportunistic FCA cases,” the groups said in a friend-of-the-court brief in support of appellant Providence Health & Services. “Hospitals, in particular, will become easy targets for these abusive complaints.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit last month affirmed a decision dismissing a similar FCA lawsuit brought by Integra against Baylor Scott & White Health, as urged by the AHA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.