Health Care Litigation

Whether you are a health care provider or payor, academic medical center, entrepreneur, pharmaceutical and biotechnology firm, laboratory, clinical research organization, behavioral health, home health provider, or investor in the health care & life sciences industry, there is always the fear of being subject to litigation. Whether it is general litigation, alternative dispute resolution, civil lawsuits, or criminal or government investigations, Foley is here to help.

Our team of 200+ health care & life sciences sector lawyers have a diverse background in the health care regulatory, transactions, IP, cybersecurity, and litigation industries. We bring decades of in-house experience at health care providers and vendors, pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, as well as experience at key state and federal government agencies. Our lawyers have been deeply immersed in these industries, acquiring substantial technical and scientific knowledge through graduate degrees and ongoing training that enables us to provide forward-looking, practical solutions.

We draw even broader experience and collaborate with our 400+ litigation lawyers who specialize in all aspects of litigation: antitrust & competition, labor & employment, government investigations, construction, False Claims Act, and business litigation. Many of our litigation lawyers held prominent positions in government agencies including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and state Attorneys General.

Our in-depth knowledge of and firsthand experience working in government gives Foley a head start when litigating against government departments and agencies. This inside angle helps clients refute allegations of wrongdoing, manage voluntary self-disclosures, and negotiate parallel civil, criminal, and administrative inquiries. We often pair our former government lawyers with our lifelong defense lawyers and regulatory subject matter experts to provide a broad scope of perspective and insight.

Foley understands your litigation needs in the health care & life sciences industry. Our lawyers are well-equipped to help you with every aspect of your litigation dispute. The combination of our health care & life sciences sector and our deep litigation department ensures we meet the needs of our clients.

The below representative experiences highlight the breadth and depth of our expertise in health care litigation and ways that Foley can help navigate even the most challenging disputes.

Health Care Government Litigation/Investigations

• Represented a health care provider in connection with the Department of Justice and the Civil Frauds Section of the U.S. Attorneys’ Office for the Central District of California’s investigation into whether payments made by a health care provider to a public entity in the context of a private/public partnership arrangement violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act.

• Defended a major national health insurer in a multimillion-dollar False Claims Act case resulting from the Federal Employee Benefit Program. The relator alleged the insurer defrauded the United States by failing to adjudicate certain claims for speech and physical therapy. Foley successfully won summary judgment on all counts, and the relator’s appeal was voluntarily dismissed.

• Represented a major academic and health care institution involving scientific research misconduct, such as using poor data in the application process, to obtain government grants. Foley has helped several high-profile clients deal with the intersection between reporting on key information and the False Claims Act.

• Represented an emergency services provider group in False Claims Act litigation filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The relator, a former employee, alleged Stark violations, upcoding, and retaliation among other claims. The provider group asserted claims against the former employee for theft, conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty. The court dismissed all claims twice, without prejudice, before the case settled on terms favorable to the provider group.

Health Care Business Litigation

• Defended a Medicare Part A national ambulance service in an FCA case predicated on alleged deficiencies in certificate-of-need documentation. The potential exposure amounted to $1.2 billion, but Foley was able to settle the case for just $5 million.
• Represented a national health care company with respect to various occupational safety and health-related matters and inquiries and provided counsel and advice on the same.

• Represented the owner and developer of a $205 million high-rise, state-of-the-art medical research facility in Boston. The general contractor submitted claims in excess of $20 million at the end of the project, alleging dozens of unresolved issues. Foley developed counterclaims exceeding the claims. Despite the significant complexity of the claims and the large dollar amounts involved, we successfully negotiated a pre-litigation settlement of all claims.

• Represented the owner of an advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in disputes with the contractor, subcontractors, and designers concerning commissioning of various complex mechanical and other building systems, delays and completion. Successfully resolved the matter without litigation despite more than $3.5 million in dispute.

Health Care Employment Litigation

• Represented a hospital and hospital system with respect to litigation seeking to challenge and enforce restrictive covenant agreements with respect to physicians and providing ongoing regular counsel and advice on general L&E matters and application of restrictive covenants.

• Represented a national blood bank supplier with respect to union avoidance issues and counseling.
• Represented a regional senior living, assisted living and nursing home provider/operator with respect to regular labor and employment counseling, Department of Labor wage and hour audit, multiple different single-plaintiff discrimination claims/charges (more than 30 over prior 20-year period) (always defense work), and various wage and hour claims.

• Represented a pharmaceutical company with respect to internal employment investigations, and response to allegations of employment discrimination.
• Represented a stage one pharmaceutical clinical testing provider with respect to legislative development, unemployment compensation audit challenge, and regular labor and employment advice and counsel.

• Represented a health care records and technology company with respect to ongoing labor and employment counsel and advice, discrimination challenges and charges / litigation, and drafted employment agreements and restrictive covenant agreements.

Health Care Antitrust & Competition Litigation

• Experience defending clients in multidistrict class-action litigation matters involving allegations of price-fixing and market allocation. In some cases, plaintiffs have claimed multiple billions of dollars in damages.
• Represented integrated health care organizations in horizontal, vertical, and cross-market merger investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, and various State Attorneys General.

• Experience defending health care providers in criminal and civil antitrust investigations involving labor practices, managed care negotiations, and information-sharing issues.
• Represented managed care organizations, payors, and other types of health care organizations in strategic mergers and acquisitions, including due diligence counseling, preparing Hart-Scott-Rodino notifications, and navigating clients through merger investigations.

Whatever your needs, as they arise, Foley is here to help. Our world-class service, and our commitment to obtaining the best results for our client, will be evident from start-to-finish. Please do not hesitate to contact us as we can help.