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Pharmaceutical Fraud

Qui Tam Whistleblower Cases Force Bristol-Meyers Squibb to Pay $515 Million to Settle Allegations

October 4, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Last week, the United States Department of Justice announced that Bristol-Meyers Squibb (BMS) had entered into a settlement agreement to pay more than $515 million to resolve allegations of illegal drug marketing and pricing. This is yet another example where Big Pharma has attempted to gouge the government to increase profits, at the public’s expense. The allegations made by the government, regrettably, are all too familiar and have occurred in many other cases of a similar nature.

The first thing the government alleged was that
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Whistleblower Law Attorneys to Gather for Symposium on False Claims Act, State False Medicaid Claims Act, and New IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program

September 18, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Some of the country’s leading attorneys in qui tam whistleblower cases and IRS Whistleblower cases will gather for the “First Annual Whistleblower Law Symposium,” which will take place at the Georgia State Bar Headquarters on Thursday, September 20, beginning at 9:00 a.m. (See Agenda below). This Whistleblower Law Symposium is organized and co-chaired by the authors of this whistleblower lawyer blog, Michael A. Sullivan and Richard W. Hendrix.

The presenters will include the very successful Pat O’Connell of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, whose group has recovered more than $216 million in health care fraud cases since 1999; and Jim Breen, who has represented relator Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys Inc. in many very substantial qui tam cases, including the action that led to last week’s announcement by DOJ of a settlement with Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc.

In addition, Steve Cowen of King & Spalding, LLP will chair a discussion of issues in defending False Claims Act cases; Marlan Wilbanks and other relators’ counsel will speak as well; and Charlie Richards of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office and Georgia’s Inspector General Doug Colburn will discuss the new Georgia State False Medicaid Claims Act.

We will also discuss the bill introduced last week by Senators Grassley, Durbin, Specter, and Leahy to make substantial modifications to the federal False Claims Act, the “False Claims Act Correction Act of 2007.” (See http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=fac0a482-1321-0e36-ba6f-0150b8a2b182&Month=9&Year=2007).

Further, my partner Richard Hendrix and I will explain and discuss the new IRS Whistleblower Program created by Congress in December 2006. I spent several hours this past week in Washington with the Director of the new IRS Whistleblower Office, Stephen Whitlock, to prepare for and appear in a panel discussion to explain the new IRS Whistleblower Program. I also enjoyed lunch with the lead IRS official responsible for IRS Whistleblower claims in the financial services industry, Stuart Mann, and with Nicole Cammarota, an IRS official who is working on the new regulations. There is a great deal of excitement about this new IRS Whistleblower program, which rewards citizens who report large tax fraud, tax evasion, and other tax law violations to the IRS. (Our firm is pursuing a variety of IRS Whistleblower cases across the country.)

For anyone who believes that taxpayers pay too much to allow fraud against the federal and state governments, these exciting new developments in the law are important.

We are excited to be hosting this Whistleblower Law Symposium, and to discuss recent developments in the False Claims Act, the new state False Claims Acts, and the new IRS Whistleblower Program. The Agenda for the Symposium is below.
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Pharmaceutical Company Bristol Settles Massachusetts Lawsuit Over Pricing of Drugs

July 20, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Alleged Overcharging for Prescription Drugs Leads to $13 Million Settlement in Boston

Pharmaceutical fraud harms the Medicare and Medicaid programs–and the citizens who pay for them. Drug companies’ alleged overcharging for prescription drugs has led to fraud investigations and lawsuits by whistleblower attorneys in the past. This week, shortly before trial, pharmaceutical manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. reportedly agreed to pay $13 million to resolve allegations that it overcharged for its Taxol cancer medicine and other drugs.

The settlement follows a ruling last month
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Medicare Fraud Convictions for Florida Home Health Care Operator for False Claims

July 6, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Durable Medical Equipment Company Received Kickbacks from Pharmacy Owners in Health Care Fraud Case

In a Medicare fraud case of interest to whistleblowers and whistleblower attorneys, a Miami a federal jury convicted a home health care operator of conspiracy to defraud and submit false claims and receive kickbacks, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and three counts of receiving kickbacks. Gisela Valladares, owner of PRN Home Health Care, Inc., faces up to 30 years in prison.

According to the Justice Department,
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Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Pursued for Medicaid Fraud by Texas Attorney General’s Office

June 27, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Whistleblower Reveals Alleged Drug Price Schemes to Defraud Medicaid

When drug companies hide the true prices charged for prescription drugs, the pharma companies can violate laws protecting state Medicaid programs from being defrauded by “overpaying” for drugs. The experienced Medicaid fraud prosecutors of the Texas Attorney General’s Office have announced such allegations against three pharmaceutical manufacturers for tens of millions of dollars in Medicaid fraud in Texas.

For pharmaceutical products to be eligible for Medicaid reimbursement, the law generally requires that manufacturers accurately report
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Guilty Plea in Pharmaceutical Fraud Case

April 4, 2007
Michael Sullivan

A subsidiary of the drug manufacturer Pfizer has agreed to plead guilty in a kickback scheme and to pay a criminal fine of $19.68 million, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Michael J. Sullivan (not to be confused with Michael A. Sullivan, one of the authors of this whistleblower lawyer blog).

The government’s announcement was that Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc., was charged with offering a kickback in connection with the administration and distribution
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Government Joins Whistleblower Case Against Pharmaceutical Firm for Overcharging on Generic Drugs

February 1, 2007
Michael Sullivan

We saw another significant whistleblower case against a drug company hit the news wire this week.

The government announced that it was joining a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act against the company Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane, Inc. The Complaint alleges overcharging on pharmaceutical products.

In joining this lawsuit, the United States has alleged that the drug company engaged in a “scheme to report fraudulent and inflated prices for several pharmaceutical products, knowing that federal health care programs established reimbursement rates based on those reported prices.”

We have reprinted the government’s announcement of why it is joining this qui tam whistleblower lawsuit below (from the U.S. Department of Justice press release):

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