U.S. ex rel. Stratienko v. Chattanooga-Hamilton Cnty. Hosp. Auth. (Summary)

False Claims Act – Qui Tam

U.S. ex rel. Stratienko v. Chattanooga-Hamilton Cnty. Hosp. Auth., No. 1:10-CV-322 (E.D. Tenn. July 29, 2013)

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee granted in part and denied in part a medical center’s motion to dismiss allegations of false claims and violations of a Corporate Integrity Agreement.  The court found that there had already been a number of public disclosures of the potentially fraudulent activity occurring at the medical center, and much of the relator’s complaint was based on publicly disclosed information.  Based upon the public disclosure provision, the court dismissed the False Claims Act claims.   Furthermore, the court found that the relator failed to establish that she was an original source of the information since she never claimed to have direct knowledge of the fraudulent activity. The court granted the relator leave to amend her claim that the medical center violated its Corporate Integrity Agreement.