Prescribing the Right Causation Standard: The Sixth Circuit’s Approach to Holding Healthcare Fraudsters Civilly Liable

On March 28, 2023, in United States ex rel. Martin v. Hathaway, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit applied a textualist approach when it held that to bring a False Claims Act (FCA) action “resulting from” a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), a plaintiff must show but-for causation. In 2018, in United States ex rel. Greenfield v. Medco Health Solutions, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit looked to the legislative history of the AKS, ultimately finding that the same phrase “resulting from” conveyed a more relaxed causation standard. This Comment argues that the Sixth Circuit employed the proper approach to statutory interpretation and that future litigants should plead a but-for causal relationship when bringing such claims under the FCA. By confining statutory interpretation to a textual analysis, lower courts will ideally exercise judicial restraint and defer to the legislature to amend the causal standard should Congress see fit to do so.