The U.S. Department of Justice has annunciated several enforcement priorities relevant to the healthcare sector: senior care, opioids, cybersecurity and privacy, and – of particular interest to listeners of “The Corner Series” – private equity investors in the healthcare space.
Michael Podberesky, a former DOJ prosecutor who is now co-chair of McGuireWoods’ False Claims Act Investigations, Litigation and Enforcement team, outlines these priorities in this installment of “The Professor’s Corner,” a special episode of “The Corner Series” in which host Geoff Cockrell invites experienced practitioners to share insight about nuanced topics.
Michael offers an insider’s view of the agency, including how it balances political pressure with its evidentiary burden and how its attorneys triage the large number of complaints they receive. He observes that his former DOJ colleagues typically have one overriding calculus: “Am I dealing with a bad actor?” For the most part, he says, they are fair and reasonable, adding: “That doesn’t mean we’re going to agree, and it doesn’t mean our listeners are going to agree.”