Appeals court affirms dismissal of physician’s FCA/AKS claims against hospital

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed a district court’s decision dismissing a lawsuit that sought to turn a hospital’s decision not to hire a physician into a False Claims Act suit based on the Anti-Kickback Statute. Specifically, the Court held that this decision not to hire did not qualify as “remuneration” under the AKS. In addition, the Sixth Circuit adopted a narrower definition of “causation” under the AKS than the United States government requested, siding with Oaklawn Hospital and a friend-of-the-court brief submitted by the AHA and four state hospital associations. In that brief, the AHA further explained that overturning the district court’s “well-reasoned” opinion would vastly expand hospitals’ exposure to FCA suits, “which are tremendously expensive to defend throughout a government investigation and litigation even when the suit is meritless.”