Ninth Circuit: U.S. ex rel. Frazier v. IASIS Healthcare Corporation

Whether the district court erred in holding that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) requires Relator in a False Claims Act qui tam suit to plead details about specific false claims, even when Relator alleged that Defendant submitted false certifications of compliance on cost reports, and that each claim was submitted to federal health care programs and originated from illegal referrals from physicians, which rendered all claims false or fraudulent. Whether the district court abused its discretion in holding that granting leave to amend would be futile, and dismissing complaint with prejudice, when the court agreed that the complaint could state a claim, that this was the first challenge to the sufficiency of the pleadings under Rule 9(b), that the amendments described by the district court’s opinion were not required by precedent, and that Relator offered to amend.

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