Once again displaying the effectiveness of the False Claims Act in combating government fraud, the Justice Department has announced that it recovered $2 billion in fraud cases in the latest fiscal year that ended September 30, 2007. Qui tam whistleblower cases under the False Claims Act accounted for at least $1.45 billion of those recoveries, with the whistleblowers (or “relators’) sharing in those recoveries.
In all but one year since 2000, False Claims Act cases have generated at least $1 billion in recoveries, with whistleblowers responsible for cases that produced most of those judgments and settlements.
Health care fraud cases involving Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs once again generated the most dollars–$1.54 billion, more than 75% of the total recoveries.
Pharmaceutical companies paid the lion’s share of the health care fraud recoveries. The government’s settlements with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Medco Health Solutions, Inc., Purdue Pharma L.P., Purdue Frederick Co., and InterMune, Inc. totalled over $800 million.
The Justice Department has focused on cases of Pharma’s “off-label” marketing; kickbacks to physicians, wholesalers, and pharmacies to induce sales of drugs or medical devices; inflating the drug “prices” that federal programs use to reimburse providers, then “marketing the spread” between the federal reimbursement and the provider’s lower cost; and failing to report the drug company’s actual “best price” so as to reduce rebates required to be paid.
In addition to the federal dollars recovered, states recovered an additional $264 million in pharmaceutical fraud cases–demonstrating why state versions of the False Claims Act such as those enacted in 2007 by New York, Georgia, and Oklahoma are such a good idea.
The defense industry once again holds the number two position in government fraud, accounting for more than $48 million.
For an understanding of the False Claims Act, please see our in-depth article explaining the False Claims Act and its increasing importance in combating fraud by rewarding whistleblowers for stepping forward.