Trump’s ‘Abnormal’ Use of FCA Could Get Tricky in Court

In a Law360 column about the Trump administration’s interpretation of the False Claims Act, Woods Rogers attorney Justin Lugar is quoted extensively about the use of enforcement tools in an atypical fashion. Justin was a former Virginia federal prosecutor who served as the Department of Justice’s civil healthcare fraud coordinator before joining Woods Rogers’ Government & Special Investigations team in 2024.

“The administration is using its enforcement tools to focus on some very narrow areas,” Justin told Law360 in an interview. “It's kind of an abnormal use of the FCA. It doesn't fit the pattern of typical healthcare fraud enforcement.”

He added, “In any area where this administration wants to get a particular point of view across, the FCA could be used — because all they have to do is make it a condition of payment. When I was a federal prosecutor, we really tried to stay away from medical necessity cases, unless it was a very clear lack of medical necessity. Otherwise, you get into a battle of experts about what is medically necessary and what is not. And it's not the government's job to play the role of doctor.”

Subscribers to Law360 can read the full article here.