Elizabeth Peters Young v. BTW Solutions, LLC

── Elizabeth Peters Young v. BTW Solutions, LLC ── Case No.: 25-12723 Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: March 10, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-12723 Document: 27-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 1 of 6 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-12723 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Ex Rel., Plaintiff, ELIZABETH PETERS YOUNG, Relator, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus BTW SOLUTIONS, LLC, Defendant-Appellant, ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 3:17-cv-00094-CDL ____________________ Before NEWSOM, GRANT, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. USCA11 Case: 25-12723 Document: 27-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 2 of 6 2 Opinion of the Court 25-12723 PER CURIAM: BTW Solutions, LLC is a wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical products. In this case, relator Elizabeth Young alleged that BTW submitted false reimbursement claims to a federal workers’ compensation program and then gave kickbacks to clients. After BTW settled with the federal government, Young moved for attorneys’ fees. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion by granting that motion, we affirm. I. As alleged, BTW colluded with physicians who agreed to purchase prescription pain creams from BTW on behalf of patients covered by federal workers’ compensation. BTW billed the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs for those drugs—not at the rates set out in applicable fee schedules but at a 900% markup, to the tune of $4.9 million dollars over five-and-a-half years. BTW and the purchasing physician would then split the proceeds, usually down the middle. Relator Elizabeth Young learned about this scheme when she worked for BTW as a salesperson back in 2015. Two years later, she sued BTW and sixteen physicians and clinics for violations of the False Claims Act and other statutes. After a years- long investigation, the federal government finally intervened in 2023, opting to proceed only against BTW under the False Claims Act. In 2025, BTW settled the lawsuit for $1.5 million, with a portion of that amount payable to Young. The district court then USCA11 Case: 25-12723 Document: 27-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 3 of 6 25-12723 Opinion of the Court 3 granted Young’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs, allowing her to recover an additional $263,680.08. BTW brings this appeal to challenge Young’s entitlement to attorneys’ fees and costs, as well as the amount of the fees award. II. We review a “district court’s award of attorneys’ fees and costs for abuse of discretion, revisiting questions of law de novo and reviewing subsidiary findings of fact for clear error.” Atlanta J. & Const. v. City of Atlanta Dep’t of Aviation, 442 F.3d 1283, 1287 (11th Cir. 2006). III. Under the False Claims Act, a “relator who initiates a meritorious qui tam suit receives a percentage of the ultimate damages award” or settlement amount, “plus at