Bloedow v. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest

Summary

The federal False Claims Act allows “whistleblowers” to expose fraudulent billing by government contractors. In July 2011, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed Bloedow v. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest under the act.

Bloedow’s lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood submitted false claims to Washington agencies administering the state’s Medicaid program.

According to the suit, Bloedow discovered through his own research that Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest filed at least 25,000 false claims with HRSA for reimbursements in excess of the amount allowed for oral contraceptive pills and at least another 25,000 for reimbursements in excess of the amount allowed for “emergency contraceptive” (“Plan B”) pills under the federal government’s 340B drug reimbursement program. Total damages could be as much as $377,134,130.

A federal district judge dismissed the case in December 2013 on technical grounds—wrongly concluding that Bloedow’s claims were barred because of disclosures of improper billing in another lawsuit against an entirely different Planned Parenthood affiliate based in California. Alliance Defending Freedom has appealed the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.