Joe 👻 BOO! 👻 dek
@joedudekjd.bsky.social
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Maryland attorney specializing in appeals and insurance coverage.
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![On the one hand, in its answering brief, Wellpath represented
that it does not “receive federal funds.” Medical Appellees’
Answering Br. 20 n.2. On the other hand, that statement
conflicts with court filings and government websites that
indicate Wellpath directly receives federal financial assistance.
See, e.g., U.S. Dep’t of Agric., Distance Learning &
Telemedicine Grants FY 2023, at 4, https://perma.cc/5Y5S-
54A5 (awarding “Wellpath, LLC” a federal grant); see also
Vanderklok v. United States, 868 F.3d 189, 205 n.16 (3d Cir.
2017) (explaining that we can take judicial notice of “publicly
available [information] on government websites”). In advance
of oral argument, this Court advised the parties to be prepared
to address this issue. But oral argument did not bring clarity.
Instead, Wellpath’s counsel, after initially representing that
Wellpath has never directly or indirectly received federal funds
of any kind, then acknowledged that she could not explain the
public documents to the contrary and that she had not, in fact,
investigated the matter. And after representing that she would
follow up with her client and submit supplemental briefing, she
failed to do so, requiring us, two weeks later, to formally order
Wellpath to submit that briefing. What Wellpath then provided
also failed to engage, much less resolve, the conflict between
its blanket denials and the public records.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gqbrsb2cdeaz5ybuo3kk7vs7/bafkreih6cvjlun3yr3otwwt7rzjnkubjlhxmkotrlet5rdn4fczjepdt54@jpeg)
![ENSIGN: Your Honor, I'm not going to say categorically nothing [in the record]. There's nothing I can cite to you standing at this podium. But --
MILLETT: There might be something in the record that you were just not calling to mind right now?
ENSIGN: It's conceivable, Your Honor. But --
MILLETT: Do you have a particular thing in mind but you just can't remember if it's in the record?
ENSIGN: Your Honor, I'd want to go back. There may be guidance. It's not definitive. My understanding in talking to the clients (and I want to be very careful because I want to sort out between what I've had conversations with the clients about and what is strictly in the record right now) -- I can't point you to any specific evidence. But I think it is very useful, That absence of evidence, If you do not have a single plaintiff who has ever alleged --](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gqbrsb2cdeaz5ybuo3kk7vs7/bafkreicxo4ikmguiijazzutqjza5rlz5mzthidglony2fvi2d7a4hgrmru@jpeg)
Reposted by Joe 👻 BOO! 👻 dek
