UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, EX REL. RONALD I. CHORCHES AS TRUSTEE FOR THE BANKRUPTCY ESTATE OF PAUL FABULA, and PAUL FABULA, Plaintiffs-Appellants, — v. — AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE, INC., Defendant-Appellee.*, 865 F.3d 71

Summary

HOLDINGS: [1]-In an EMT's FCA suit alleging that a company providing emergency and non-emergency medical transport services made false statements and submitted false claims for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, the company did not preserve the public disclosure bar for appellate review because the public disclosure bar was not jurisdictional and the company failed to raise this claim before the district court; [2]-The complaint complied with Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) because the relator's allegations led to a strong inference that specific invoices were submitted and that detailed information about the invoices were peculiarly within the company's knowledge, and Rule 9(b) did not require any more under the FCA; [3]-The EMT's refusal to falsify a particular company form so as to hinder the filing of a fraudulent claim in violation of the FCA constituted protected activity under the FCA.