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Life after Bryan: intent under the anti-kickback law
1Saint Louis University School of Law, USA.
Journal of Health Law
|February 8, 2000
Summary
Recent court rulings suggest that violating the anti-kickback statute requires intentionally breaking any law, not necessarily the anti-kickback law itself. Further clarification is needed on the required knowledge of law violation.
Area of Science:
- Health Law
- Legal Studies
Background:
- The anti-kickback statute is a critical component of healthcare fraud and abuse law.
- Determining the requisite level of "willfulness" for violations has been a subject of ongoing legal interpretation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze recent court decisions regarding the standard of "willfulness" for anti-kickback statute violations.
- To identify ambiguities in current legal interpretations and their implications.
Main Methods:
- Review and analysis of two recent court cases addressing "willfulness" under the anti-kickback statute.
- Legal interpretation of judicial reasoning and standards applied.
Main Results:
- Current interpretation suggests an intentional act with knowledge of violating *a* law suffices for an anti-kickback violation.
- Uncertainty remains regarding whether knowledge of violating the specific anti-kickback statute is required.
- The required connection between the knowingly violated law and the anti-kickback law is not clearly defined.
Conclusions:
- The legal standard for "willfulness" in anti-kickback cases is evolving.
- Further judicial precedent is necessary to clarify the precise mens rea required for violations.
- Practitioners should exercise caution due to the current ambiguity in the law.