A West Virginia federal district court has dismissed a false claims lawsuit filed against Thomas Health System, citing insufficient detail in the plaintiff's allegations, according to court documents filed by Becker's.
The case was originally filed in November 2020 by a former nurse, who claimed that Thomas Health violated the Stark law by structuring physician compensation in a way that improperly considered physician referrals, among other alleged violations
In its decision, the court ruled that the complaint did not meet the required standards for particularity, stating that it lacked "details of fraud — causally linked together — to form a plausible and particular claim." The court further noted that “defendants should not be subject to further litigation under the shadow of a haphazardly pled 82-page complaint.”
In September, the same judge addressed the case, indicating that it could not proceed without additional briefs from the parties on how the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the Chevron deference impacts the claims.