Material Lives: Amending the False Claims Act to Restore Qui Tam Medicaid Enforcement and Protect Our Most Vulnerable Communities

In 2016, the Supreme Court granted cert. in Universal Health Services, Inc. v United States ex rel. Escobar to resolve a circuit split on implied certification under the False Claims Act. The Court’s opinion also addressed the issue of materiality under the False Claims Act. The “rigorous standard” expounded by the Court raised the standard of materiality beyond simple contractual or regulatory noncompliance. This heightened standard represents a significant departure from previous jurisprudence. Moreover, the heightened standard frustrates the repeatedly expressed will of Congress to empower qui tam whistleblowers to prosecute fraud perpetrated on the government. The primary focus of this Note is the effect this new materiality standard will have on Medicaid qui tam actions. This Note proposes that post-Escobar Congress should amend the False Claims Act’s materiality definition to return the act to the original intention of its drafters. This will allow potential Medicaid fraud perpetrators to again fully face the threat of qui tam enforcement envisioned by Congress, preventing potentially disastrous effects on the United States’ most vulnerable communities

The Need for a Schema for the Classification of Transitional (Shale) Materials

The need for comprehensive information on the characteristics and behavior of earth materials has been recognized for many years, perhaps for as long as significant construction has taken place in and on the surface of the earth. In recent years, however, the magnitude and complexity of engineered construction has greatly increased, resulting in a corresponding increase in the need for information on the engineering properties of soil and rock materials for use in site selection, design, construction, and maintenance of major structures. Probably the most pressing need for such data is for use in preliminary considerations of site selection and design alternatives. Maps and(or) surveys giving the areal distribution of earth materials and their characteristics, together with topographic maps available for many areas, permit much preliminary work on engineered structures to be performed without the engineer ever having to leave his office

Status Report on Landslide Area on I-75, Covington, Kentucky [May 1963]

This report has been prepared to describe the history and present condition of a landslide area on Interstate Route I-75 in Covington, Kentucky, This landslide is one of several to be studied as part of a research project on the Development of a Practical Method of Locating and Tracing Seepage Water in Unstable Slopes. On April 10, 1963, a request was submitted to the Bureau of Public Roads to change the Work Program HPS-1(24) to include this research project. Approval was received on May 2, 1963. Work done on this research project prior to May 2 was at Department of Highway expense with work accomplished since being done on a participating basis. An attempt will be made to give the history of earth movement at this particular site and to describe the condition of the area at the present time. This discussion will be presented in chronological order using photographs and sketches to illustrate the situation. A site plan of the general area of earth movement is shown in Figure 1. The details shown in black in this figure represent features that were being constructed or had been constructed at the time the first earth movement was noted. Plans are being made to attempt to locate and trace the paths of water that may be contributing factors in this landslide movement. Various techniques are being given serious consideration for this purpose and include the use of fluorescent dyes, radioactive tracers and the electrical resistivity apparatus

Data mining of gene arrays for biomarkers of survival in ovarian cancer

The expected five-year survival rate from a stage III ovarian cancer diagnosis is a mere 22%; this applies to the 7000 new cases diagnosed yearly in the UK. Stratification of patients with this heterogeneous disease, based on active molecular pathways, would aid a targeted treatment improving the prognosis for many cases. While hundreds of genes have been associated with ovarian cancer, few have yet been verified by peer research for clinical significance. Here, a meta-analysis approach was applied to two care fully selected gene expression microarray datasets. Artificial neural networks, Cox univariate survival analyses and T-tests identified genes whose expression was consistently and significantly associated with patient survival. The rigor of this experimental design increases confidence in the genes found to be of interest. A list of 56 genes were distilled from a potential 37,000 to be significantly related to survival in both datasets with a FDR of 1.39859 × 10−11, the identities of which both verify genes already implicated with this disease and provide novel genes and pathways to pursue. Further investigation and validation of these may lead to clinical insights and have potential to predict a patient’s response to treatment or be used as a novel target for therapy

Performance of a Reinforced Concrete Pipe Culvert Under Rock Embankment

A 48-inch diameter reinforced concrete pipe installation has been observed in order to evaluate the performance of both types of bedding conditions as currently used by the Kentucky Department of Highways. A portion of the pipe was laid using Kentucky\u27s Standard B Bedding. The remainder of the pipe culvert was laid using the B1 Bedding (imperfect trench); the design height of the fill (36 feet) was sufficient to require the imperfect trench construction. The embankment was primarily of a rock fill material, with the largest particle size limited to a maximum of 3 feet. The portion of the pipe with the Standard B Bedding exhibited stress in relation to each additional height of embankment placed. For every fill increment, there was a corresponding change in the length of the vertical and horizontal diameters of the pipe and in the pipe distress as exhibited by cracking. The absence of signs of distress in the B1 Bedding portion indicates that the imperfect trench performed its purpose of relieving load on the pipe

Seal Coat Application to Clark Memorial Bridge

The maintenance of the surface of the approach ramps and bridge deck of the Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville has presented certain problems over the past few years. The ramps at each end of the bridge are rather steep, and on the Louisville side the ramp intersects Main Street where traffic movements are controlled by traffic signals. Thus, the northbound traffic accelerating upgrade from a stop and the southbound traffic braking to a stop on the downgrade present two very severe conditions that the surface must withstand. The increased use of salt for snow and ice removal has also contributed to deterioration of the surface

Engineering Properties of Kentucky Soils

Soils maps, and particularly engineering soil maps, are proving to be desirable in the planning and design stages of many types of structures and land developments. Engineers and community planners, and even administrators, are becoming increasingly appreciative of such information during the very earliest stages of planning and site selection. Problems associated with foundations, drainage, and soil behavior may be recognized early through the use of adequate soil maps. At present there is no single source of information which presents the engineering characteristics of the soils of Kentucky. When such information is desired, detailed onsite investigations are made. When such data are not available for preliminary reconnaissance, explorations are often conducted after the site has been selected. Engineering soil surveys and maps, if available, can be used to great advantage in four major ways by engineers and planners: To make soil-reconnaissance surveys, To locate construction material deposits, To organize and check field surveys, and To correlate performances with soil type

The Crab Orchard and Osgood Formations: The Case for Slope Instability

For the past few years, the Division of Research, as a part of its continuing study of the occurrence of landslides in Kentucky, has reviewed and studied several sites in order to identify and delineate the geologic and soil formations which might be involved in the unstable earth masses. After a study of a number of landslides, it became evident that one particular material was highly susceptible to the development of landslides. This material, in Eastern Kentucky, is known as the Crab Orchard Formation and was deposited during the middle Silurian age. The Crab Orchard Formation, a deposit some 50 to 120 feet thick, is extensively mapped in the eastern portion of the State and correlates geologically with the Osgood Formation mapped in the western portion of Kentucky. The Crab Orchard and Osgood Formations are primarily shale deposits with some thin, discontinuous beds of dolomite. Soils which typically develop from these formations include the Rockcastle, Rarden, Fleming, and Fawcett series

Evaluation of a Vibratory Roller for Use in Compacting Bituminous Concrete Mixes

According to Article 4.3.5-D-1 of the 1956 Edition of Kentucky\u27s Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, a minimum of two rollers, one 3-wheeled roller and one tandem roller, shall be required on each state project involving bituminous concrete paving operations. A further requirement of the specifications is that additional rollers will be provided so that there is avaHable ...at least one roller for each 30 tons of the bituminous mixture per hour... that is laid. This, of course, means that for paving operations involving the laying of the bituminous mixture at rapid rates, the contractor must have available and make use of an increased number of rollers. With the wide spread use in Kentucky of dense graded aggregate as a base course material, there is also an increased use of vibratory rollers to obtain the desired densities of the base. Very often then, the paving contractor will have available on the job site such vibratory compacting equipment. Current practice does not permit the use of this equipment for compacting the bituminous mixture and thus the vibratory roller usually stands idle during the laying of the bituminous mixture. From the contractor\u27s point of view, it would be highly desirable if this equipment could be used to satisfy the specification requirements for the additional rollers as stated by Article 4.3.5-D-1 and thus reduce the contractor\u27s in vestment in compacting equipment