False Claims Act: 2018 Year-In-Review

Federal False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries in fiscal year 2018 amounted to $2.88 billion, down by roughly $600 million from the prior year and dropping below $3 billion for the first time in eight years. Healthcare cases, including ones involving drug and device companies, accounted for most of the total, at roughly $2.51 billion, up slightly from the previous year. Recoveries in Defense Department cases totaled approximately $107 million, less than half the 2017 figure. The value of settlements and judgments in the non-healthcare and non-defense category dropped sharply to just below $260 million. In 2018, 645 new qui tam cases were filed—an average of more than 12 a week—down slightly from the year before but still at historically high levels.