A qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act can sit under seal for months, sometimes years, before the healthcare provider it names ever sees the complaint. The initial seal period runs at least 60 days under 31 U.S.C. Section 3730(b)(2), and the government routinely extends it while it investigates the underlying claims. During that time the relator cannot serve the complaint or discuss it publicly, and the provider named in it typically has no idea the case exists. What the provider does see, often for the first time, is a records request, a subpoena, or a civil investigative demand that gives no indication a lawsuit is already pending.
The Statutory Seal Under 31 U.S.C. Section 3730(b)
When a relator, the private party authorized to bring a qui tam case, files suit under the False Claims Act, the complaint is filed in camera and kept confidential from the defendant. Section 3730(b)(2) requires the complaint to remain under seal for at least 60 days and bars service on the defendant until the court orders it. The relator's counsel cannot notify the provider, negotiate with it, or discuss the filing outside the government's own investigators. The Department of Justice's Civil Division uses the window to evaluate the relator's evidence and decide whether to intervene, decline, or seek dismissal.
How the Seal Period Gets Extended
The 60-day period is a floor, not a limit. 31 U.S.C. Section 3730(b)(3) lets the government move the court for extensions for good cause shown, and judges grant these requests routinely because complex healthcare billing investigations rarely resolve in two months. The statute sets no cap on how many extensions a court can grant, and reported cases document seals extended through repeated government motions stretching past a year. A provider under investigation has no way to see how many extensions have been filed or how close the government is to a charging or intervention decision.
What the Government Does While the Case Stays Sealed
DOJ's Civil Division, often working with the local U.S. Attorney's Office, builds an independent record of the allegations during the seal period rather than relying solely on the relator's complaint. Investigators commonly issue a civil investigative demand under Section 3733, request claims and billing data, and test a sample of flagged claims using the extrapolation methods covered in Statistical Sampling in FCA Cases: Where Courts Draw Limits. A parallel criminal referral can proceed on its own authority alongside the civil theory, a distinction covered in FCA Civil Exposure vs Criminal Charges: Keeping Them Apart, and the two tracks can produce different outcomes from the same underlying facts.
How Providers Usually First Learn They Are a Defendant
Most healthcare providers first learn about a sealed qui tam case indirectly, through a subpoena, a federal agent's call, or a civil investigative demand that does not say a lawsuit already exists. A CID alone does not confirm a qui tam complaint is behind it, since the government issues CIDs across many investigations that never involve a relator. The complaint itself is not served until the court lifts the seal, which happens after the government decides to intervene, decline, or the relator proceeds on its own. If the matter resolves against the provider, it may also face a corporate integrity agreement or an OIG exclusion, both negotiated or imposed well after the seal that started the case.
A civil investigative demand does not confirm a qui tam complaint exists, but by the time one arrives, a relator may have already given the government months of allegations the provider has never seen.
Why Early Legal Counsel Is Critical
It is critical that healthcare providers promptly retain experienced healthcare defense counsel upon receiving a subpoena, a civil investigative demand, or any other government inquiry, even when no lawsuit is visible yet. Early legal intervention can protect the provider's rights, shape how the government's investigation proceeds, avoid inadvertent admissions during records production, and allow counsel to communicate with investigators on the provider's behalf. Delaying representation until the seal lifts can mean responding to allegations the government has already been developing for months, or years, without pushback.
How Health Law Alliance Can Help
Health Law Alliance has represented healthcare providers across 2,500+ matters involving federal and state fraud investigations, including qui tam cases still under seal and the corporate integrity agreement negotiations that can follow, covered in Corporate Integrity Agreements: Terms, Costs, and Negotiation. If your practice has received a civil investigative demand, a subpoena, or any sign of a federal fraud inquiry, contact Health Law Alliance's False Claims Act defense attorneys for a free, confidential consultation before the government's investigation moves further.
