U.S. ex rel. Smart v. Christus Health (Summary)

FALSE CLAIMS ACT – QUI TAM RELATOR

U.S. ex rel. Smart v. Christus Health, No. 2:05-CV-287 (S.D. Tex. May 22, 2013)

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas denied a relator’s motion to seek a cut of another qui tam action brought by another relator against the same health system.

The original relator successfully recovered over $1.5 million dollars after the system settled claims related to his allegations that it rented office space to physicians at rates that were below fair market value.  The original relator then moved to reopen the case to allow him to seek a share of the recovery in a separate qui tam action against the system that was related to upcoding outpatient claims to inpatient claims.  However, the district court held that the original relator failed to prove that his allegations overlapped with the conduct in the other case.

The district court also denied the original relator’s Freedom of Information Act requests and his request to unseal documents in the other lawsuit because the district court judge has no authority to access the records in the other case or determine what documents should be unsealed.