A district court has ruled that a false claims lawsuit filed against Thomas Health System cannot be resolved without parties' briefs on the U.S. Supreme Court's recent overturning of the Chevron deference, according to court documents obtained by Becker's.
A former nurse filed the suit in November 2020 alleging Thomas Health violated Stark law by employing physicians through compensation arrangements that took referrals into account, among other violations.
In July, the Supreme Court overturned the 40-year-old legal precedent known as Chevron deference, which said during disputes over regulation of an ambiguous law, judges should defer to federal agency interpretations within reason.
Because the ruling requires the judge "carefully consider the regulations without blindly referring to any agency interpretation," Mr. Goodwin said in the ruling, parties are required to file supplemental briefings by Oct. 4.
"Over time the Stark law (and accompanying regulations) has evolved into a labyrinth of multipart compliance requirements where the exception-to-the-exception is the norm," he said. "...That deference is no longer required; indeed, that deference is no longer acceptable."