Campbell

The False Claims Act provides that “[n]o court shall have jurisdiction” over a qui tam action based on allegations of fraud that already have been publicly disclosed, unless the relator was an “original source” of the information. 31 U.S.C. § 3730 (e)(4)(A). In addition, the Act precludes any person from filing a subsequent “related action based on the facts underlying the pending action” when a qui tam action already has been filed. Id. § 3730(b)(5). This is known as the first-to-file bar. The question before us is whether the first-to-file bar prevents the filing of a subsequent related action when the first action is jurisdictionally defective because the relator was not an original source of publically disclosed information. We hold today that it does not. If the first-filed qui tam action was not filed by an original source and is therefore not jurisdictionally cognizable, it does not constitute the first-filed complaint for the purposes of § 3730(b)(5).

I. Factual and Procedural Background

This lawsuit arises out of a scheme involving the performance of thousands of unnecessary invasive cardiac procedures at the Redding Medical Center (“RMC”) for the purposes of…