Law360 published an article by McGuireWoods lawyers Christina Egan and Benjamin Christenson discussing two new databases released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Although intended to increase the transparency of federal payments to physicians, the authors note, the existence of these publicly available databases also may increase risks to healthcare providers because whistleblowers and attorneys can use the data to support qui tam lawsuits alleging violations of the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Act or the Physician Self-Referral Act. Subscribers to Law360 can read the full text of the article at www.law360.com. Originally, the piece appeared as a post under the same title on McGuireWoods’ Subject to Inquiry blog, which provides commentary on white collar, congressional, SEC, energy enforcement and other government inquiries.
