On Thursday, March 21, 2024, the DOJ announced that it, joined by 16 other state and district attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolization or attempted monopolization of smartphone markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. A video of the announcement can be found here. A copy of the file stamped complaint can be found here.
The Class Action Complaint alleges, among other things, that: -Tesla has been implementing automatic software updates which, without warning to the customer, deplete the battery and reduce the driving range of the vehicles by at least 20%. -These updates are directly implemented by Tesla wirelessly and systematically via entry into the vehicle’s computer, without the opportunity to consent to the updates by the customer. -These updates derate the performance of the battery or, in some cases, render the battery inoperable. The Class Action Complaint contends… Read More »On May 12, 2023, a Nationwide Class Action was filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, asserting among other things, that Tesla’s Model S and Model X are “Protected Computers” under the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
On December 14, 2022, the DOJ announced that a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida convicted a Georgia man for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting over $463 million in genetic and other laboratory tests that patients did not need and that were procured through the payment of kickbacks.
On December 15, 2022, the DOJ announced that Ocenture LLC, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and its subsidiary, Carelumina LLC, agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations* they submitted false claims to Medicare by paying and receiving kickbacks in connection with genetic testing samples.
November 7, 2022 (Tampa, FL). The DOJ announced that a former Sarasota physician was sentenced to three years and six months in federal prison for conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks and bribes. Additionally, the former physician was ordered to forfeit $278,900, the proceeds of his offenses. On May 24, 2022, a federal jury found the former physician and another, of conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks and bribes, in the form of speaker fees, in return for prescribing the fentanyl spray, Subsys.
On November 7, 2022 (Tampa, FL), the DOJ announced that a Pompano Beach woman was sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and for making a false statement in a matter involving a federal health care benefit program. As part of her sentence, the court ordered her to pay approximately $12 million to the affected government health programs and an insurance company, which obligation is joint and several with other coconspirators.
Tuesday, December 6, 2022, Miami. The USAO – Florida Southern, announced that nine Florida residents were arrested this morning by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after being charged by a federal grand jury in Miami with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The fraud scheme allegedly involved tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent health care billing by 30 South Florida physical therapy clinics. The FBI Miami Field Office, investigated the case.
On August 30, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its opinion in United States v. Honeywell International, Inc. —F. 4th—, 2022 WL 3723020 (DC Cir. 2022). The DC Circuit held that the pro tanto rule is the appropriate approach to calculating settlement credits under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The DC Circuit concluded that pro tanto is the settlement offset rule that best coheres with the FCA and the precedents interpreting it, and applying this rule will generally promote judicial… Read More »DC Circuit Adopts Pro Tanto Rule for FCA Settlement Offsets
On September 2, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Bayer Corporation, and its related entities, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc., Bayer HealthCare LLC and Bayer AG (collectively “Bayer”) agreed to pay $40 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act in connection with the drugs Trasylol, Avelox and Baycol. The Settlement Agreement can be found here. According to the DOJ, the settlement arose from two whistleblower lawsuits. The cases are captioned United States ex rel. Simpson v. Bayer Corp. Civ. No. 05-cv-3895 (D.N.J.), and United States… Read More »Bayer to Pay $40 Million to Resolve Alleged Use of Kickbacks and False Statements
On May 19, 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a new revised policy (“Revised Policy”) for charging violations under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”). The Revised Policy is effective immediately. The Revised Policy for the first time directs that good-faith security research should not be charged. The DOJ provided that “[g]ood faith security research means accessing a computer solely for purposes of good-faith testing, investigation, and/or correction of a security flaw or vulnerability, where such activity is carried out in a manner… Read More »DOJ Revises Policy for Charging Cases Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act