Fresenius to the U.S. Government: When It Comes to the FCA, You Snooze You Lose

In a nearly decade long lawsuit involving the dialysis company Fresenius, and allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by conducting and then billing the government for medically unnecessary hepatitis B tests, Fresenius is now seeking to challenge that the government is time-barred because the government took too long to intervene in this case. Although the Court has yet to decide the challenge by Fresenius, the outcome of that decision will likely have a significant impact on future government decisions to intervene in False Claim Act cases.

Everyone who has ever been involved with a government investigation or case knows that time somehow runs differently in those situations. Investigations take a long time to bear fruit and when they do, securing indictments and trial dates take even more time. However, even with that perspective, the case of United States ex rel. Christopher Drennen v. Fresenius Medical Care Holdings is one for the record books, and it is still not over.