Pfizer Inc.’s Wyeth Unit plans to plead guilty to a misdemeanor “misbranding” offense under federal law as part of a $491 million settlement of a government investigation of the company’s promotion of the organ-transplant drug Rapamune. The DOJ has been investigating allegation that Wyeth promoted Rapmune for unauthorized uses and paid kickbacks to doctors.
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Michael A. Morse, a partner in the law firm of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick and Raspanti, LLP, presented at the Thirteenth Annual Pharmaceutical Regulatory and Compliance Congress and Best Practices Forum in Washington, DC on November 6, 2012.
The Swiss-based pharmaceutical giant Novartis will pay Texas $19.9 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. The whistleblower in this case, Donald Galmines, is a former Novartis marketing representative. Galmines’s suit alleges that the pharmaceutical manufacturer falsely marketed its drug, Elidel, which has been approved by the FDA for use on patients ages two and up who suffer from eczema and who were not seeing results from the “first-line” treatment options.
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Connecticut based pharmaceutical manufacturer, has reached an agreement with the US Government to pay $95 million to resolve allegations relating to the unlawful marketing of three different drugs.
Aggrenox, a stroke-prevention drug, Combivent, a COPD drug and Micardis, a hypertension drug, were all involved in the settlement which alleged that Boehringer improperly marketed these drugs thus causing false claims to be submitted to the government’s health care programs.
A whistleblower suit alleging that office supply giant, Office Depot, was fraudulently overcharging the government for supplies such as pens, ink, furniture and other miscellaneous goods was unsealed late last month. The case claims that the company overcharged government agencies in San Diego County and throughout California under a series of office supply contracts.
A complaint was filed under the Qui Tam Whistleblower Provisions of the Federal False Claims Act alleging that the New York City Department of Education billed Medicaid for Psychological Services given to Special Education students. The government, specifically the US Attorney for the Eastern District, Loretta E. Lynch, announced that the US Government will intervene in this matter.
On Friday, October 19, after being found guilty by the federal court for misusing government funds intended for HIV/AIDS research granted to the College by the National Institute of Health, Weill Cornell Medical College settled with the government and a whistleblower in the amount of $1.6 million.
A civil suit was filed under the Federal False Claims Act on behalf of the US Government alleging that Bank of America Corporation, the second-biggest United States bank by assets, has burdened the American taxpayers with losses after they tainted the quality of home loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
Federal officials will investigate this year the safeguards pharmaceutical companies have in place to keep Medicare Part D beneficiaries from using manufacturers’ coupons to pay copayments for their prescriptions, according to a recent report.
The project is one of several new Part D-related initiatives that the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Inspector General announced in its fiscal year 2013 Work Plan.
MARC S. RASPANTI, partner of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP, has become a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in America.
The induction ceremony at which Mr.
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.