In terms of civil liability, physicians who knowingly submit false claims for reimbursement by the federal government can incur civil penalties of up to $10,000 per claim, plus treble damages, under the Federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729-3732). At $10,000 per claim, civil monetary penalties often reach millions of dollars. For example, TAP’s $875 million penalty included over $559 million to settle its federal civil False Claims Act liability in the Lupron case.

Second, physicians need to realize that the Government is paying close attention to their interactions with manufacturers and vendors of health care products and services. The TAP case highlights the government ’s increased vigilance in investigating and prosecuting violations of the fraud and abuse statutes. In a six-month period (April through September 2001), the Government recouped more that $1.22 billion through both Civil Monetary Penalty Law and False Claims Act civil settlements.

Physicians should stay tuned to further developments in this area.

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