P&C partner Stephen Hasegawa comments to Law 360 on the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc.
“I think almost everybody who practices in this area of law did believe this issue was settled, and I continue to believe that the issue is settled … [But] to the extent that people are sharpening their axes to take another run at saying False Claims Act suits are unconstitutional, that is a pretty extreme threat to the American taxpayer,” said Stephen Hasegawa, a partner at whistleblower firm Phillips & Cohen LLP.
Perhaps the best line of argument for relators seeking to preserve their ability to pursue qui tam cases, if the constitutionality question does reach the justices, is to point out to the Supreme Court — “largely an originalist court,” Hasegawa said — that the use of qui tam statutes precedes the founding of the United States, and that the first Congress itself enacted qui tam statutes, according to whistleblower attorneys.
Read the entire article, “High Court’s FCA Ruling Reopens Constitutionality Question,” Law 360, June 16, 2023.