Ermi Beats Whistleblower Suit Alleging Orthopedic Device Fraud

Ermi LLC and others won dismissal of a whistleblower suit alleging that they violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for orthopedic devices that weren’t medically necessary, were overpriced, or were inadequate, a district court said.

The “shotgun” pleading in whistleblower Elizabeth Cooley’s complaint made it “virtually impossible” to know which allegations supported which claims for relief, Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia said in a Thursday opinion.

The complaint is also flawed for not differentiating the alleged acts and omissions giving rise to different defendants’ liability, the court ...