U.S. Prosecutors Sued Over False Claims Document Sealing Abuse

The mishandling of False Claims Act lawsuits by federal prosecutors in the District of New Jersey violates defendants’ First Amendment right to transparent judicial proceedings, a medical device company asserted in a complaint.

Prosecutors improperly circumvent the FCA requirement of limiting the complaint seal period to 60 days by engaging in a practice called “administrative termination,” which keeps complaints sealed indefinitely, Merit Medical Systems Inc. told the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on Thursday.

This practice, that judges have gone along with, should be stopped because it violates the public’s right to access judicial proceedings and ...