In early 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice
announced a new policy encouraging prosecutors handling False
Claims Act (FCA) cases to seek dismissal of qui tam
complaints that threaten the government's interests. However,
it was unclear how and to what extent prosecutors would carry out
that directive. Now a year later, federal prosecutors appear to be
embracing the new policy—and it is already having an effect
on one case involving a drug manufacturer.
The January 2018
Granston memorandum outlined the Department's new
approach to handling FCA prosecutions in "in light of the
government's limited resources." Under the new policy,
prosecutors are encouraged to move to dismiss qui tam
claims as a way to "advance the government's interests,
preserve limited resources, and avoid adverse precedent." This
marked a departure from the Department's previous policy of
rarely exercising its statutory authority to dismiss such claims.
To guide prosecutors, the memorandum
