Noncompete agreements remain in the Federal Trade Commission’s crosshairs. Although the FTC abandoned its pursuit of a nationwide ban, targeted enforcement is here, and the healthcare industry specifically has been placed on notice.
The Background
On September 5, 2025, the FTC announced it was walking away from its proposed national ban on noncompetes. However, in
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recovered $2.9 billion under the False Claims Act (FCA) in 2024, a 5% bump from 2023. This total represents the most recovered since 2021 and reaffirms the FCA’s central role in the government’s anti-fraud efforts.
The DOJ entered 558 FCA settlements and judgments, the second highest total after 2023’s
On Tuesday, April 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule designed to promote competition and new business formation that, when effective, will impose a nationwide ban on non-compete agreements across all industries.
Existing non-compete agreements for employees will become unenforceable. Existing non-competes for senior executives can remain in force, but employers will
The owner of Bergen Alliance Counseling Services in Paramus, New Jersey pleaded guilty to a run-of-the-mill healthcare fraud scheme in District Court in Newark on March 19. Maria Cosentino of Garfield, a licensed clinical social worker, admitted to billing private healthcare programs for counseling sessions that did not take place.
The practice provided counseling services
A New York acupuncturist recently admitted to billing Amtrak’s health care benefit plan for services that were never provided and were medically unnecessary. From January 2019 through June 2022, Punson Figueroa of Long Island City, New York paid Amtrak employees hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks in order to use their personal and
On February 26, David Weathers of the Bronx pleaded guilty in federal court in New Jersey for his role in a COVID-19 kickback conspiracy. The government had charged Weathers with soliciting kickbacks in return for referrals of COVID-19 test samples, in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).
At the other end of the scheme
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey recently announced a $750,000 settlement with Sentynl Therapeutics Inc., a California-based specialty pharmaceutical company. The settlement resolved allegations that Sentynl improperly provided kickbacks to a physician to induce prescriptions of its opioid products in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).
The Government alleged that