Akin Gump Obtains Summary Judgment Win in False Claims Case Against Huron Consulting
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(Washington, D.C.) – Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP obtained a summary judgment dismissal of a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit against Huron Consulting Group.
The relator in the case alleged that, during 2005 and 2006, while Huron allegedly controlled operations at St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center, Huron caused St. Vincent’s to raise charges in order to “game” Medicare’s outlier payment formula, thus obtaining “fraudulently” excessive payments. Judge Jed Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled the relator could not assert that Huron caused the submission of false charges because there was no rule, regulation or standard governing how hospitals should set their charges and how those charges must be related to hospital costs. As a result, Judge Rakoff ruled that no claim could be false or fraudulent as a matter of law.
This case is the fourth FCA lawsuit in the past year in which Akin Gump has successfully obtained the dismissal of its client, whether in the pleading stage, at summary judgment or after the trial. Robert Salcido, a partner in the firm’s health care practice, led the defense team in all of them.
Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 850 attorneys in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
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