Gregory Demske

Greg Demske is a partner in Goodwin’s Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution (CL&DR) and Healthcare practices. He provides strategic compliance counseling for healthcare and life sciences companies. Greg helps clients achieve their business goals while reducing risks under the Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, and other fraud and abuse authorities in business arrangements and transactions. He advises on developing and operating compliance programs, requesting advisory opinions, anticipating and addressing compliance issues, submitting voluntary disclosures, and responding to government investigations and enforcement actions.

Prior to joining Goodwin, Greg served as Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he led the provision of all legal services and advice for the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Greg is a member of the American Health Law Association (Board of Directors 2017-2023), the American Bar Association Health Law Section, and the Health Care Compliance Association.

In his role as HHS OIG Chief Counsel from 2012 to 2022, Greg led the 130-person Office of Counsel to the Inspector General (OCIG), which provided all OIG legal services, including all aspects of:

• Representation of HHS in False Claims Act (FCA) cases involving HHS (including Medicare and Medicaid)
• Negotiation and monitoring of Corporate Integrity Agreements (CIAs)
• Exclusions from participation in Federal health care programs
• Civil monetary penalties (CMPs) for fraud and other misconduct
• Review and settlement of matters submitted under the OIG self-disclosure protocol
• Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) safe harbor regulations
• Advisory opinions on AKS and other OIG remedies
• Guidance to industry on risk areas and voluntary compliance efforts
• Legal advice to OIG on audits, evaluations, and investigations

For more than 30 years, Greg helped lead the government’s health care fraud enforcement and compliance efforts. Greg shaped OIG’s overall enforcement and guidance strategies and decided or influenced OIG’s approach in most major cases and issues. He also led OIG’s coordination with the Department of Justice on FCA cases related to Medicare, Medicaid, and other HHS programs. Before assuming leadership roles, Greg was the OIG attorney on hundreds of FCA cases and dozens of CIAs, including Columbia/HCA ($1.7 billion settlements), Fresenius ($486 million settlement), and Beverly Enterprises ($175 million settlement), and litigated CMP cases before administrative law judges. During his OIG career, Greg served on details as a Special Assistant US Attorney at the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and later as HHS Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General.

Greg has received the Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention, the HHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, and multiple OIG awards.

Greg frequently presents on topics related to healthcare and life sciences fraud enforcement and compliance. In addition to being a public speaker before multiple bar and compliance associations, Greg has presented to and engaged with health care and life science industry groups in many public and private settings.

Select Presentations

• Panelist, “Top Regulatory and Enforcement Developments You Should Know About in 2024,” HCCA Compliance Institute, April 16, 2024
• Panelist, “2023 OIG and DOJ Compliance Guidance for Healthcare Providers,” Strafford CLE Webinar, January 24, 2024
• Panelist, “Criminal and Civil Stark and Anti-Kickback Cases,” Georgia State Bar Association Health Care Fraud Seminar, December 7, 2023
Panelist, “Federal Administrative Sanctions,” Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) Healthcare Enforcement Compliance Conference, November 7, 2023
• General Session, “Anti-Kickback Statute and EKRA Primer,” American Health Law Association (AHLA) Fundamentals of Health Law, November 6, 2023
• Panelist, “Physician Self-Referral Law vs Anti-Kickback Statute,” AHLA Fundamentals of Health Law, November 6, 2023
• Panelist, “Reflections on the Role of the False Claims Act as a Major Force in the Regulation of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industries,” Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Ethics and Compliance Congress, October 26, 2023
• Panelist, “The Rising Stakes of Data Governance and How Companies are Responding,” Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Ethics and Compliance Congress, October 25, 2023
• Panelist, “Chief Compliance Officer Lightning Round,” AdvaMed Medtech Conference, October 11, 2023
• Keynote Speaker, “Trends in False Claims Act Litigation, OIG Audits, and Other Risk Areas,” CompliancePalooza, October 3, 2023
• Panelist, “The Current State of RA Litigation and Risk Areas for MA Plans, Physician Groups, Vendors and Downstream Entities,” RISE West 2023, August 29, 2023
• Panelist, “Federal Administrative Enforcement: Suspensions, Exclusions and Civil Money Penalties, American Bar Association (ABA) Institute on Health Care Fraud, May 5, 2023
• Panelist, “Cooperation Credit and FCA Settlements – Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?,” Federal Bar Association webinar, May 3, 2023
• Speaker, “The Pandemic is Ending: What Providers Can Expect Next,” HCCA, Annual Compliance Institute, April 24, 2023
• Keynote Speaker, ABA Health Law Section Emerging Issues In Healthcare Law, San Diego, CA, March 9, 2023
• Panelist, “OIG Developments,” HCCA, March 30, 2022
• Speaker, “General Counsel Corner,” AHLA, Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues, March 23, 2022
• Keynote Speaker, Federal Bar Association, 2022 Qui Tam Conference (virtual), February 23, 2022
• Keynote Speaker, American Bar Association, Washington Health Law Summit, December 7, 2021
• Speaker, “OIG Update,” AHLA, Fraud and Compliance Forum, October 1, 2021
• Panelist, “OIG Developments,” HCCA, Annual Compliance Institute (virtual), April 21, 2021
• Speaker, “Updates on Medicare and Medicaid,” AHLA, Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues, March 25, 2021
• Speaker, “OIG Priorities, Enforcement, and Compliance for Coders,” American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), Collaborative Compliance Conference (virtual), February 22, 2021
• Keynote Speaker, Pharmaceutical Compliance Forum, Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Ethics and Compliance Conference, November 4, 2020
• Speaker, “OIG Developments,” HCCA, Annual Compliance Institute, March 26, 2020
• Speaker, “OIG Update,”HLA, Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues (virtual), March 25, 2020
• Keynote Speaker, “HHS OIG, Boards, and Compliance,” HCCA, Board and Audit Committee Compliance Conference, February 24, 2020
• Keynote Speaker, “OIG’s Role in Grants Oversight, Grant Fraud, and Research Compliance, ”HCCA, Research and Compliance Conference, June 11, 2019
• Speaker, “OIG Update,” HCCA, Annual Compliance Institute, April 8, 2019
• Speaker, “OIG Update,” HCCA, Healthcare Enforcement Conference, November 6, 2018
• Keynote Speaker, “HHS OIG Priorities,” Tennessee Bar Association, Annual Health Law Forum, October 11, 2018
• Speaker, “Fraud Risk Indicator,” AHLA, Fraud and Compliance Forum, September 27, 2018
• Speaker, “Managed Care Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid,” AHLA, Annual Meeting, June 26, 2018
• Keynote Speaker, “OIG Compliance Priorities,” Mitchell Hamline Law School, Mitchell Hamline Symposium, May 16, 2018
• Speaker, “OIG Developments 2018,” HCCA, Annual Compliance Institute, April 16, 2018
• Speaker, “OIG Update,” AHLA, Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues, March 21, 2018

Congressional Testimony

• Continuing Concerns with the Federal Select Agent Program: Department of Defense Shipments of Live Anthrax, House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, July 28, 2015
• Examining the Relationship Between the Medical Device Industry and Physicians, Senate Special Committee on Aging, February 27, 2008
• Role of OIG in Identifying and Preventing Abuse of the Elderly, Senate Special Committee on Aging, July 18, 2007

Article

• Co-Author, “A Practical Look at OIG’s New Compliance Guidance,” Goodwin Client Alert, November 22, 2023
• Co-Author, “The Supreme Court Holds that the False Claims Act’s Scienter Element Turns on Defendant’s Subjective Beliefs, Rejecting Seventh Circuit’s Objective Standard,” Goodwin Client Alert, June 5, 2023
• Co-Author, “Seven Tips for Healthcare & Life Sciences Companies Engaging Independent Monitors and Compliance Experts,” Goodwin Client Alert, May 24, 2023
• Co-Author, “Supreme Court Holds DOJ Has Broad, But Not Unlimited, Discretion to Dismiss False Claims Act Qui Tam Litigation Brought by Private Whistleblowers,” Goodwin Client Alert, 2023
• Co-Author, "Shared Goals: How the HHS Office of Inspector General Supports Health Care Industry Compliance Efforts," Mitchell Hamline Law Review: Vol. 44: Iss. 4, Article 1, 2018