The American Hospital Association — joined by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — sent a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to bar civil monetary penalties under the False Claims Act.
The brief was submitted in a case that is seeking clarification of the FCA's mandatory penalty provision. In their brief, the groups said the FCA's "irrationally large" penalties are often times not based on the severity of the fraud or amount of harm done to the government, but rather, on how invoicing is performed under contracts.
The brief also said the mandatory FCA penalties often lead defendants to settle claims even when claims are meritless, which has prevented further development of the law.
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