Recent FCA and AKS Litigation Highlights Use of Different Standards in Different Circuits

In an important decision limiting the reach of the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and its application to violations of the False Claims Act, the Sixth Circuit recently contended that, “[w]hile the word remuneration may be broad, it customarily requires a payment or transfer of some kind,” and mandated “but-for” causation standard for determining whether claims paid by Federal health care programs were tainted by an AKS violation such that they violated the FCA.