On July 31, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rendered an opinion in a case of first impression. The Court held that a federal employee, even one whose job it is to investigate fraud, is a “person” under the False Claims Act and may maintain a qui tam action.
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $181 million to resolve allegations of inappropriate marketing of the drug Risperdal. Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia will share in the settlement money.
The lawsuit alleges that Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.
On August 30, 2012, the Department of Justice (DOJ) began emailing hospitals across the country with strict instructions to examine questionable implantable defibrillator surgeries on Medicare patients and estimate potential penalties under the False Claims Act. Prosecutors of the DOJ have been investigating for over two years as to whether or not some Medicare patients have received implanted defibrillators outside of CMS rules on when these devices can be used.
Within the past year, whistleblowers inside of American corporations are divulging information about employers that could give them part of multi-million dollar penalties won by financial regulators under a Securities and Exchange Commission program. Whistleblowers are exposing more than simply names; they are turning over documentation including e-mails and audio recordings because they are motivated by cash and the turning in of wrongdoers.
Omnicare, Inc., based in Covington, Kentucky, agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging it submitted false claims for reimbursement to government health insurers and paid a “kickback” when it bought the pharmacy company, Total Pharmacy Services, LLC. Omnicare is a company that supplies drugs to nursing homes.
In Paducah, Kentucky, a False Claims complaint has been settled regarding landfill operations. The qui tam complaint, United States ex rel. Vander Boegh v. Bechtel Jacobs Company, LLC, was filed by C.
In U.S. v. Alderson, 686 F.3d 791 (9th Cir. July 18, 2012), a case of first impression, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a relator’s share should be treated as ordinary income for tax purposes rather than as capital gain.
After just one year of operation, the SEC made the first payment under its Whistleblower Program. The program was established in August 2011 as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. The whistleblower will receive nearly $50,000, representing 30% of the amount collected in an SEC enforcement action against the perpetrators of a securities fraud scheme.
On August 13, 2012, a U. S. District Court in Dallas, Texas entered a final judgment in the amount $40,472,759 for Qui Tam plaintiffs against a defendant for violations of the False Claims Act. The violations stemmed from fraudulently inflated charges that were submitted by a government subcontractor to Lockheed Martin Corporation and then passed on to the United States government.
On July 27, 2012, it was announced that the McKesson Corporation agreed to pay $151 million to 29 states to settle allegations that the company artificially raised Medicaid drug prices, resulting in excess charging for prescription medications.
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.