Confirm favorite deletion?
Health Law Keyed to Furrow
United States ex rel. Mikes v. Straus
Facts
Dr. Patricia S. Mikes (Plaintiff), a board-certified pulmonologist, was hired by Dr. Marc J. Straus (Defendant) as part of a physician's partnership called Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates. Plaintiff was hired specifically to provide pulmonary and critical care services. However, she was terminated after discussing her concerns regarding invalid spirometry tests being conducted in the office with Defendant. Spirometry encompasses various breathing tests which allow the doctors to evaluate the overall pulmonary or lung function of a patient. Plaintiff had observed that the partnership's failure to calibrate the Spirometry instruments caused the results to be false and unreliable. Plaintiff filed suit for retaliatory termination and wages unlawfully withheld. Plaintiff also initiated this qui tam suit pursuant to the False Claims Act alleging the partnership had submitted false Medicare reimbursement requests. The false charges were for the allegedly false spirometry tests and for false referrals for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) where the partnership held a financial interest in the facilities that provided the testing. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants finding Plaintiff's claims did not satisfy the standard for constituting fraudulent certification and finding that the MRI claims were vexatious. This appeal ensued.
Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*
Access the most important case brief elements for optimal case understanding.
*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
Topic:
Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.Parties:
Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.Procedural Posture & History:
Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.:
A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises:
Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
Brief Facts:
A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.Rule of Law:
Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.Facts:
What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case.Issue(s):
Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.Holding:
Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.Concurring / Dissenting Opinions:
Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.Reasoning and Analysis:
Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
Policy:
Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.Court Direction:
Shares where the Court went from here for this case.