Smoke is Not Fire: Fourth Circuit Rejects Stark and AKS Theories Built on Ordinary Business Practices and Conclusory Allegations

It is not every day that an 83-page qui tam complaint alleging Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) violations is dismissed at the pleading stage, particularly when filed by experienced relator’s counsel and accompanied by more than 30 pages of detailed claims data.  But that was exactly the result in U.S. ex rel. Kyer v. Thomas Health System, a June 4 decision from a unanimous Fourth Circuit panel.