(Des Moines, IA) This week U.S. District Judge John Jarvey ruled that most of the counts in Sue Thayer’s False Claims Act lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of the Heartland will move forward.
From the Judge’s ruling:
We conclude that Thayer has pled sufficiently particularized facts to support her allegations that Planned Parenthood violated the FCA by filing claims for (1) unnecessary quantities of birth control pills, (2) birth control pills dispensed without examinations or without or prior to a physician’s order, (3) abortion-related services, and (4) the full amount of services that had already been paid, in whole or in part, by ‘donations’ Planned Parenthood coerced from patients. Thayer adequately alleges the particular details of these schemes, such as the names of the individuals that instructed her to carry out these schemes, the two-year time period in which these schemes took place, the clinics that participated in these schemes, and the methods by which these schemes were perpetrated. Moreover, she alleges that her position as center manager gave her access to Planned Parenthood’s centralized billing system, pleads specific details about Planned Parenthood’s billing systems and practices, and alleges that she had personal knowledge of Planned Parenthood’s submission of false claims.
“It is with great anticipation that we look to the next phase of this case. Planned Parenthood’s long history of fraudulent billing practices must be exposed. While I am disappointed that even a small part of the case was dismissed, I am thankful that two parts of the suit will proceed to a hearing. I have always believed that it is every Iowan’s right to know exactly where their hard-earned taxpayer dollars go and am confident that the truth will come out,” said Sue Thayer, Lead Strategist for Iowa Right to Life.
“We are very pleased with Judge Jarvey’s decision to move forward with this historic case,” stated Jenifer Bowen, Executive Director of Iowa Right to Life. “With decades of sustained, systemic fraud occurring, Iowans should be demanding answers from the wholly unregulated largest abortion chain in Iowa, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland,” concluded Bowen.
