Last week, pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline announced that it would take a $3.4 billion charge to cover the legal fallout from investigations into its controversial Avandia diabetes pill. In total, Glaxo has taken over $6 billion in charges to cover ongoing legal problems related to Avandia, which was banned in Europe last fall.
Last week, ESPN reported, based on documents uncovered through a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request, that Tailwind Sports, a San Francisco-based sports management company, was paid nearly $32 million between 2001 and 2004 to run Lance Armstrong’s United States Postal Service (“USPS”) cycling team. The figure is significant to the False Claims Act suit filed by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis,
On January 18, 2011, the Young Adult Institute (“YAI”) and five of its current and former officers were ordered to pay $18 million in civil damages to settle a lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act. YAI is the largest operator of residential facilities and other programs for developmentally disabled individuals in New York State.
During the fiscal year 2010, the US government was able to recover more than $4 Billion stolen from federal health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Due to the fraud-fighting efforts of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) and Medicare Fraud Strike, this money was returned to the Medicare Health Insurance Trust Fund,
N.I. Teijin Shoji Co. Ltd., a fiber importer, agreed to a $1.5 million settlement for False Claims Act allegations. The company imported the fiber, Zylon, which was manufactured by Toyobo Co. Ltd. of Japan. It is alleged that Teijin Shoji was aware that the Zylon degraded quickly over time causing it to be unfit for use in the production of bullet proof vests.
Seven hospitals in Florida, Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama have agreed to pay the United States a total of more than $6.3 million to settle allegations under the False Claims Act. Between 2000 and 2008 these hospitals performed kyphoplasty, a minimally invasive treatment for certain spinal fractures that is often performed on an outpatient basis.
On Thursday, February 17, 2011, the Allegheny Bar Association’s Federal Court section will be presenting QUI TAM LITIGATION IN THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA: OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Honored speakers and panelists at this wonderful event include United States Attorney David Hickton, The Honorable Nora Barry Fischer, AUSA Michael Comber, Tom Farrell,
A federal court trial against Former Kaplan Higher Education Dean Ben Wilcox began November 30, 2010. The government charges that Wilcox hacked into Kaplan’s computer systems and sent harassing e-mails to Kaplan students, employees and executives. Although Wilcox previously admitted to sending the e-mails, he is now defending on grounds that Kaplan framed him for threatening to blow the whistle on the Company’s fraud.
Drug lobbyists, PhRMA and BIO have been trying to sell the public on claims that kickbacks involved in the Omnicare Whistleblower Litigation, in which Omnicare, a prominent pharmacy benefit manager, allegedly accepted bribes from most top drug companies in return for pushing expensive medicines over cheaper alternatives, offered rebates to Omnicare,
CDI, a Philadelphia supplier of engineering services on commercial and military projects, agreed to settle a false claims act lawsuit based on claims of mischarged labor costs for the period from January 2001 through December 2006. An investigation revealed that CDI directed billing of labor costs (at increments less than .5 hours to evade detection) to be reimbursed by the military for work that was never done.
If you are aware of any person, corporation or entity that you think may be violating the Federal False Claims Act or a State False Claims Act, contact us today.