United States v. Fred C. Williams

Fred C. Williams, Jr., appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment and treble damages to the United States. The government sued to collect money paid to Williams while he was attending medical school on a National Health Service Corps (“NHSC”) scholarship, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2541.

Williams argues that because he did not accept payment under his scholarship contract during his last year of medical school, he is not subject to the treble damages provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 254o(b). Instead, Williams contends that he is required only to repay the government “the amount which has been paid to him, or on his behalf, under the contract” pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 254o (a)(1)(D). We reject Williams’ construction of the statute and affirm.

BACKGROUND

Williams attended the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas (“Baylor”), from July 1979 until his graduation in June 1983. In order to finance his education at Baylor, Williams applied for, and received, an NHSC scholarship. The NHSC Scholarship Program is governed by 42 U.S.C. §§ 254i-254o, and administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”). For each year of participation in the program,…