eleventh circuit hearS arguMent On Qui taM prOviSiOnS Of the falSe claiMS act
Health Care law Section
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a qui tam relator qualifies as an“ Officer” under Article II because it exercises significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States and occupies a continued position established by law.
At least seven other federal district courts have rejected the reasoning in Zafirov. 6 That said, multiple judges have opened the question to the circuit courts: a district judge in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio certified the question of the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions for interlocutory appeal to the Sixth Circuit, 7 and two Fifth Circuit judges have questioned the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions in concurrences. 8
Regardless of how the Eleventh Circuit decides the pending Zafirov appeal, a petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court is likely to follow— an opportunity that Justice Kavanaugh appeared to welcome in his Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. U. S. ex rel. Heath concurrence. 9 n
1
Nos. 24-13581, 24-13583( 11th Cir.).
2
See 31 U. S. C. § 3730( b).
3
599 U. S. 419, 443( 2023)( Thomas, J., dissenting).
4
U. S. ex. rel. Zafirov v. Fla. Med. Assocs., LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293( M. D. Fla. 2024).
5
Id. at 1300.
6
U. S. ex rel. Souza v. Embrace Home Loans, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-453( D. R. I. Nov. 4, 2025); U. S. ex rel. Publix Litig. P’ ship, LLP v. Publix Super Mkts., Inc., No. 8:22-cv-2361( M. D. Fla. Aug. 27, 2025); U. S. ex rel. Gomez v. Koman Constr., No. EP-20-CV-252( W. D. Tex. Aug. 22, 2025); U. S. ex rel. Stenson v. Radiology Ltd., LLC, No. CV-19-00306- TUC-JGZ,( D. Ariz. June 27, 2025); U. S. v. Sporn Company Inc., No. 2:24- CV-00617( D. Vt. May 12, 2025);
U. S. v. UnitedHealthcare of Ga., Inc. No. 5:19-cv-00246( M. D. Ga. Apr. 23, 2025); U. S. v. Chattanooga Hamilton Cnty. Hosp. Auth., No. 1:21-cv-00084( E. D. Tenn. Nov. 7, 2024).
7
U. S. ex rel. Timothy Murphy v. TriHealth Inc. et al., No. 1:19-cv-168( S. D. Ohio Jul. 28, 2025).
8
See U. S. ex rel. Gentry v. Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hosp. of Pearland, L. L. C., No. 25-20093( 5th Cir. Nov. 3, 2025)( Ho, J., concurring); U. S. ex rel. Montcrief v. Peripheral Vascular Assocs., P. A., 133 F. 4th 395 at 411( 5th Cir. 2025)( Duncan, J., concurring).
9
604 U. S. 140, 167( 2025)( Kavanaugh, J., concurring).
Author: Daniella R. Lee – Epstein Becker & Green, PC
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