United States of America, ex rel., Plaintiff - Appellee Paul Cairns; Terry Cleaver, M.D.; Kyle Colle, M.D.; Paul Tolentino, M.D.; Kevin Vaught, M.D.; Daniel Henson, Relators; Barbara Gibbs, Personal Representative of the Estate of Scott Randall Gibbs, M.D., Relators - Appellees v. D.S. Medical LLC; Midwest Family Care, LLC, Defendants Midwest Neurosurgeons, LLC, Defendant - Appellant Mount Auburn Medical Group, LLC, doing business as Mount Auburn Aesthetics Group, Defendant Sonjay Fonn, M.D., Defendant - Appellant Deborah Seeger, Defendant;United States of America, ex rel., Plaintiff - Appellee Paul Cairns; Terry Cleaver, M.D.; Kyle Colle, M.D.; Paul Tolentino, M.D.; Kevin Vaught, M.D.; Daniel Henson, Relators; Barbara Gibbs, Personal Representative of the Estate of Scott Randall Gibbs, M.D., Relators - Appellees v. D.S. Medical LLC, Defendant - Appellant Midwest Family Care, LLC; Midwest Neurosurgeons, LLC; Mount Auburn Medical Group, LLC, doing business as Mount Auburn Aesthetics Group; Sonjay Fonn, M.D., Defendants Deborah Seeger, Defendant - Appellant;United States of America, ex rel., Plaintiff — Appellee Paul Cairns; Terry Cleaver, M.D.; Kyle Colle, M.D.; Paul Tolentino, M.D.; Kevin Vaught, M.D.; Daniel Henson, Relators; Barbara Gibbs, Personal Representative of the Estate of Scott Randall Gibbs, M.D., Relators - Appellees v. D.S. Medical LLC; Midwest Family Care, LLC, Defendants Midwest Neurosurgeons, LLC, Defendant - Appellant Mount Auburn Medical Group, LLC, doing business as Mount Auburn Aesthetics Group, Defendant Sonjay Fonn, M.D., Defendant - Appellant Deborah Seeger, Defendant;United States of America, ex rel., Plaintiff - Appellee Paul Cairns; Terry Cleaver, M.D.; Kyle Colle, M.D.; Paul Tolentino, M.D.; Kevin Vaught, M.D.; Daniel Henson, Relators; Barbara Gibbs, Personal Representative of the Estate of Scott Randall Gibbs, M.D., Relators - Appellees v. D.S. Medical LLC, Defendant - Appellant Midwest Family Care, LLC; Midwest Neurosurgeons, LLC; Mount Auburn Medical Group, LLC, doing business as Mount Auburn Aesthetics Group; Sonjay Fonn, M.D., Defendants Deborah Seeger, Defendant - Appellant, 42 F.4th 828
Summary
HOLDINGS: [1]-When a plaintiff seeks to establish falsity or fraud under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C.S. § 3729 et seq., through a 2010 amendment to the anti-kickback statute, 42 U.S.C.S. § 1320a-7b(g), the plaintiff must prove that the defendant would not have included particular "items or services" but for the illegal kickbacks; given that the government's sole theory at trial hinged on the 2010 amendment, the district court improperly never instructed the jury on but-for causation, and there was no telling what the jury would have done if it had.