- July 3, 2024
- Firm News
David Traskey Discusses Potential Impact of Supreme Court Ruling on Federal Health Agency Fines with Politico Pro
Garfunkel Wild’s David Traskey, Partner and former Senior Counsel with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) was quoted in the Politico Pro article titled, “The Supreme Court’s under-the-radar health care ruling.” The article explores a relatively low-profile Supreme Court decision that could impact federal health agencies’ ability to levy fines.
In the article, Traskey discusses the implications of the ruling, which determined that federal agencies like the SEC cannot rely solely on internal processes to impose fines for securities fraud. Instead, alleged violators now have the right to have their cases heard in federal courts before a jury. Traskey highlighted the argument from HHS-OIG that civil monetary penalties and exclusions are "remedial" rather than punitive, suggesting the agency will continue to use this distinction in its enforcement practices.
Looking forward, Traskey anticipates increased collaboration between HHS-OIG and the Department of Justice in federal court cases to enhance the agency’s litigation capabilities. “Any help that the Department of Justice may provide to HHS-OIG has a cascading impact on its workload, too,” David said. “Given that the Department of Justice will also be busy supporting all of the other federal agencies affected by this ruling, there could be a huge resource crunch/backlog in resolutions.”
Read the full article here (subscription required).
In the article, Traskey discusses the implications of the ruling, which determined that federal agencies like the SEC cannot rely solely on internal processes to impose fines for securities fraud. Instead, alleged violators now have the right to have their cases heard in federal courts before a jury. Traskey highlighted the argument from HHS-OIG that civil monetary penalties and exclusions are "remedial" rather than punitive, suggesting the agency will continue to use this distinction in its enforcement practices.
Looking forward, Traskey anticipates increased collaboration between HHS-OIG and the Department of Justice in federal court cases to enhance the agency’s litigation capabilities. “Any help that the Department of Justice may provide to HHS-OIG has a cascading impact on its workload, too,” David said. “Given that the Department of Justice will also be busy supporting all of the other federal agencies affected by this ruling, there could be a huge resource crunch/backlog in resolutions.”
Read the full article here (subscription required).