One Small Step for a District Court, One Giant Leap to the End of the Qui Tam: Florida District Court Holds Qui Tam Device Unconstitutional

After Justice Thomas’ dissent in Polansky, we hoped it only a matter of time before a court followed his roadmap to hold the False Claims Act’s (FCA) qui tam device unconstitutional.

That time is now. A former law clerk to Justice Thomas, Judge Kathyrn Kimball Mizelle of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, has just held in Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates LLC that the FCA’s qui tam device is unconstitutional under Article II of the U.S. Constitution.

We will, of course, post a deeper-dive in Qui Notes just as soon as we’ve had a chance to analyze the opinion, which is sure to trigger an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit, setting up an eventual showdown in the Supreme Court. It is also likely to influence other district courts considering similar challenges. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, please check out our posts on the Zafirov case, including our summary of oral argument and our other posts from June 2023, August 2023, and December 2023 regarding the constitutionality question. And, as always, stay tuned.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2024 All Rights Reserved. This Blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.