On 30 April 2026, DOJ announced a new anti-fraud initiative: the Fraud Oversight through Careful Use of Statistics (FOCUS) initiative. The FOCUS initiative is intended to strengthen DOJ’s working relationship with whistleblowers seeking to bring FCA actions.
Over the past several years, there has been an explosion of qui tam FCA lawsuits initiated by whistleblowers. As the firm noted in a prior alert, there was a record-high 980 qui tam lawsuits filed in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, and that number was quickly dwarfed by a new record-high 1,297 qui tam lawsuits filed in FY 2025. That trend does not appear to be slowing down. DOJ’s announcement of the FOCUS initiative indicates that DOJ has already received more than 780 qui tam complaints midway through FY 2026.
“Much of this recent increase [in qui tam activity] has been driven by companies or individuals who analyze publicly available government data for potential signals of fraud (data miners).” According to DOJ, data miners have filed over 45% of all qui tam complaints since FY 2024.
This increase in qui tam activity has placed workload pressures on DOJ, given that DOJ is required to investigate any new qui tam complaint. To help alleviate some of that pressure, DOJ’s FOCUS initiative is aimed at identifying and prioritizing those data miners who have developed effective tools for detecting fraud against the government.
As part of the FOCUS initiative, DOJ will invite data miners to meet with DOJ’s Civil Fraud Section to discuss the data miners’ capabilities and explain “why and how their data signals reliably correlate to fraud.” In conjunction with these specific meetings, DOJ issued the following reminders to prospective whistleblowers:
- Data miners should provide DOJ with valuable leads on potential fraud through high-quality, reliable, and predictive data analyses, which requires a thorough understanding of applicable legal obligations.
- The heightened pleading standards of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) apply to any FCA action, including data-driven FCA lawsuits.
- Data miners should assess potential alternative explanations for any observed conduct and should be prepared to articulate how the data and any other evidence suggest falsity and knowledge on the part of any defendant-entity.
- Data miners should partner with others who can “aid their understanding of program eligibility requirements and regulatory frameworks” to support any data-driven FCA action.
DOJ explained that these meetings with the Civil Fraud Section are not a pre-filing requirement for a qui tam lawsuit, but DOJ “will prioritize working with data miners who have demonstrated an investment in pre-filing diligence and commitment to analytical rigor, familiarity with program rules, and legally sufficient allegations.” To that end, DOJ has instructed data miners to be “prepared to explain what differentiates their approach, how they validate their findings, and why their methodology provides a reliable basis for identifying” actionable FCA matters.
The announcement of DOJ’s FOCUS initiative comes on the heels of other DOJ statements regarding the rise of data-driven FCA actions. For example, at the American Conference Institute’s 13th Annual Advanced Forum on False Claims and Qui Tam Enforcement in January 2026, Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) Brenna Jenny discussed the increased importance of data analytics in bringing FCA actions. As DAAG Jenny noted, “your next whistleblower could be your data.”
It remains to be seen what effect this new FOCUS initiative will have on data-driven FCA actions. Given DOJ’s apparent quality-over-quantity approach, it may be that DOJ exercises its authority to dismiss qui tam lawsuits by data miners that cannot point to a reliable methodology to support their qui tam allegations. In any event, data-driven FCA actions appear to be here to stay. Healthcare providers, life sciences companies, and other government contractors should consider evaluating any publicly available data regarding their government program-related operations to identify concerns that may become the focus of a civil enforcement action.
The firm’s Federal, State, and Local False Claims Act practice group practitioners will continue to closely monitor developments regarding the FOCUS initiative and data-driven civil fraud enforcement more broadly; and we are able to assist entities that are dealing with FCA actions.
