The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it was expanding the Criminal Division’s Health Care Fraud Unit’s Strike Force (Strike Force) to the District of Massachusetts.1 This move is a clear sign that health care enforcement remains a top-line priority for this administration, as we have noted previously:

It represents a meaningful escalation in resources, coordination, and data-driven tactics in one of the country’s most active health care and life sciences markets.

What’s new and why it matters

Launched in March 2007, the Strike Force was designed to combat health care fraud.2 Through teams of prosecutors, investigators, and data analysts, it couples data analytics with more traditional investigative steps to identify aberrant billing patterns and thus potential health care fraud and abuse. The Strike Force works in tandem with U.S. Attorney’s Offices and investigative agencies such as the FBI and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

Originating in South Florida, the Strike Force has expanded around the country, including to New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York. It also has operated in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and now will officially work alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

The Health Care Fraud Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts has historically been one of the most prolific and productive in the country. In 2025 alone, that office has recovered more than $450 million in fraudulently obtained funds. Undoubtedly, the DOJ believes that adding Strike Force prosecutors to the already robust federal health care enforcement efforts in Massachusetts will yield continued results. Massachusetts is an epicenter for life sciences research, venture-backed health care innovation, academic medical centers, and digital health startups. The DOJ has publicly tied the expansion of its Strike Force to the risks associated with the breadth of this work, citing sophisticated schemes affecting Medicare and Medicaid as well as patient safety.

For companies operating in Massachusetts’ dense ecosystem of hospitals, research institutions, biopharma manufacturers, med-tech and digital health companies, and provider networks, the practical takeaway is straightforward: more investigations on faster timelines.

Lowenstein Sandler’s White Collar Defense group counsels, among others, hospitals and academic medical centers, biopharma and device manufacturers, digital health companies, providers, and investors across the enforcement spectrum, from proactive risk assessments and internal investigations to self-disclosures, False Claims Act/Anti-Kickback Statute/Stark Law defenses, and parallel civil-criminal matters. Considering the Strike Force’s expansion and DOJ’s revised policies, we help clients align programs with DOJ expectations, build rapid-response playbooks that preserve declination eligibility, and manage coordinated inquiries with Massachusetts and federal authorities.

1 Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Just., “Justice Department Expands Health Care Fraud Unit to Target Health Care Fraud in Massachusetts,” https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-expands-health-care-fraud-unit-target-health-care-fraud-massachusetts.
2 The Strike Force coordinates with the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, and various U.S. Attorney’s Offices.