Whistleblowers Tee Up High Court Fight Over False Claims Intent

A pair of supermarket pharmacists have won the chance to convince the Supreme Court that enforcement of the federal False Claims Act, intended to prevent businesses from bilking the US government, should consider subjective understanding or belief when considering if a defendant knowingly engaged in wrongdoing.

Safeway Inc. and SuperValu Inc. each stood accused by the whistleblowing pharmacists of over-charging Medicaid and Medicare for prescription drugs. Each successfully persuaded first a trial court judge, and then a federal appeals court, that the whistleblowers’ FCA suits must fail because the pricing arose from a reasonable regulatory interpretation.

Asserting that the supermarkets ...