Qui Tam

We often find that people have heard of whistleblower cases but aren’t familiar with the legal term that makes many of these cases possible: qui tam. The phrase comes from the Latin expression qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur, which translates roughly to “he who sues in this matter for the king as well as for himself.” In modern U.S. law, this concept is most often tied to the False Claims Act and healthcare fraud.

When a whistleblower brings a case alleging fraud against the government, they file what is called a qui tam action. This means the whistleblower (also called the “relator”) brings the case not just for themselves but on behalf of the U.S. government. If the case succeeds, the government may recover funds lost due to fraud, and the relator may be entitled to a percentage of the recovery. This incentive structure has been one of the most powerful tools in uncovering large-scale fraud schemes, especially in healthcare billing and pharmaceutical practices.

Qui tam has roots in English common law, but in the United States, it gained its modern significance during the Civil War era with the passage of the False Claims Act in 1863. The government needed a way to combat rampant fraud among military suppliers, and this legal mechanism empowered citizens to act as watchdogs. Over the last several decades, qui tam provisions have led to billions of dollars in recovered funds tied to Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare programs.