Amgen Drug Fraud Case Must Have Public Disclosure Review

A New York district court must decide if the False Claims Act’s public disclosure rule bars a whistleblower’s suit claiming that medical practices engaged in a scheme to overbill Medicare for Amgen Inc. drugs, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.

The district court dismissed the suit based on the first-to-file rule, without reaching a conclusion as to whether whistleblower and former Amgen sales representative Don Hanks based his suit on other lawsuits and media reports, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said.

The public disclosure bar is jurisdictional, while the first-to-file rule isn’t, and a federal court generally ...