Eighth Circuit Joins Handful of Federal Courts of Appeals to Erode Important Defendant Protections in False Claims Act Actions

An unfortunate trend for defendants in False Claims Act (FCA) cases is continuing as the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals joined other federal circuit courts in lowering the pleading standards that qui tam relators (whistleblower plaintiffs) must satisfy in FCA cases. In U.S. ex rel. Thayer v. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, No. 13-1654, 2014 WL 4251603 — F.3d — (8th Cir. Aug. 29, 2014), the Eighth Circuit held that a False Claims Act case can survive a motion to dismiss even if the plaintiff did not specifically identify any false claims in the complaint.

* This article was originally published in the Health Care Counsel blog. To read it in its entirety, click here.