Cook County Defeats Whistleblower’s Health Grant Fraud Claims

A whistleblower’s suit alleging that Cook County, Ill., violated the False Claims Act by improperly seeking reimbursement for health services grant expenses from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was properly dismissed, the Seventh Circuit affirmed.

Noreen Lanahan, former director of financial control for the county’s public health department, didn’t plead fraud with the particularity required by the federal rules of civil procedure, Judge Amy J. St. Eve of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said in a Wednesday opinion.

Her complaint didn’t identify any statement or claim, false or otherwise, that Cook County made to ...