Misuse of Opioids Leading to More Fraud Investigations
August 1, 2025 3 minutes read
By Greg Freeman
Opioid-related fraud litigation is a trend continuing to gain momentum in FCA enforcement, says Veronica Nannis, JD, principal with the Joseph Greenwald Laake law firm in Greenbelt, MD. She represents whistleblowers, including the one who led the United States government to the largest Stark-based healthcare settlement in history — a record $345 million — against a major hospital system.
Pandemic-related fraud (including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security [CARES] Act) also continues to rank among the government’s highest enforcement priorities. In 2024, it recovered more than $250 million alone in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and related fraud, she says.
The United States also continues to enforce Anti-Kickback Statute violations, prosecuting several novel fraud schemes as well as the more traditional quid pro quo arrangements, she says.
“We are seeing several eye-popping settlements in the opioid litigation front as well as in PPP cases and Anti-Kickback cases,” she says. “Opioid litigation appears to be a nearly bipartisan enforcement priority that has now spanned numerous administrations, given the opioid epidemic’s tragic consequences on the population.”
PPP and other Covid-relief cases also are holding their ground as they continue to be litigated, Nannis says. Whenever there is a large amount of government funds, especially ones dispensed in a hurried process, there is bound to be significant fraud, she says. Pandemic-related fraud is likely to remain a key enforcement priority for several more years as the cases filed post-pandemic continue to slowly wind their way through the judicial system, she says.
“A significant change we have seen in the FCA is its express invocation in an executive order that unwound decades of previous anti-discrimination and affirmative action executive orders (EOs) and that threatens to turn the FCA on its head from pursuing fraud on the government to policing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs used by private companies who contract with the government,” Nannis says. “It is too early to tell if there will be any FCA cases filed under this EO, let alone any successful cases, based on this new priority. But, in an odd pairing, commentators from both the Relator’s Bar and the Defense Bar have noted that these cases rest on shaky ground.”
Relator’s counsel tend to see this EO as an overreaching attempt to weaponize the FCA in favor of discrimination, while the Defense Bar has pointed out how ambiguous the term “illegal DEI” is in the EO and, therefore, say that their clients are without the ability to “knowingly” violate the FCA based on a new, vague EO that seems to go against decades of Title VII and other case law, Nannis explains.
“This is an area to watch in the coming years,” she says. “If any of these FCA cases are filed, they should face significant and meritorious defenses that could continue to make odd bed fellows of the many from the Relator’s and the Defense Bars.”
Source
- Veronica Nannis, JD, Principal, Joseph Greenwald Laake, Greenbelt, MD. Telephone: (240) 553-1209. Email: [email protected].
Greg Freeman has worked with Relias Media and its predecessor companies since 1989, moving from assistant staff writer to executive editor before becoming a freelance writer. He has been the editor of Healthcare Risk Management since 1992 and provides research and content for other Relias Media products. In addition to his work with Relias Media, Greg provides other freelance writing services and is the author of seven narrative nonfiction books on wartime experiences and other historical events.
Opioid-related fraud litigation is a trend continuing to gain momentum in FCA enforcement.
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