In Their Own Words — Lampert
Posted 12/17/15
Archive
State Fraud Enforcement Spotlight -- Astrazeneca and Cephalon
Posted 11/6/15
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
On Wednesday, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that AstraZeneca LP and Cephalon, Inc. agreed to pay $54 million to settle government charges they overcharged state Medicaid programs for their pharmaceutical products. AstraZeneca will pay $46.5 million and Cephalon, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Ltd., will pay $7.5...
DOJ Catch Of The Week -- Warner Chilcott
Posted 10/30/15
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Warner Chilcott US Sales LLC, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical manufacturer Warner Chilcott PLC. Yesterday, the company agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of health care fraud as part of a global settlement in which Warner Chilcott agreed to pay $125 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising...
DOJ Catch of the Week — PharMerica Corp.
Posted 10/9/15
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Kentucky-based PharMerica Corp. On Wednesday, the nation’s second-largest nursing home pharmacy agreed to pay $9.25 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by soliciting and receiving kickbacks from pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories in exchange for promoting the anti-epileptic...
Is The FDA Ready For Kim Kardashian And Mutant Head Lice?
Posted 08/31/15
(published on the Huffington Post blog)
A pharmaceutical company was recently reprimanded by the FDA for its misleading marketing tactics on an unexpected forum—Kim Kardashian's Instagram feed. The new mother's failure to address the full safety profile of morning sickness drug, Diclegis, prompted the FDA to issue a warning letter to the drug's manufacturer. This sort of enforcement is representative of the...
Can Data Bring Reason to Drug Pricing?
Posted 07/24/15
As far as purveyors of all things pharmaceutical go, Walter White isn’t looking so bad these days. Well, at least his prices were competitive. With major pharmaceutical companies putting astronomical and ever-increasing price tags on frequently life-saving medications, patients and insurers, including state and federal government payers, are finding themselves looking for new options and opportunities to...
Congress Highlights Medicare Part D Plans’ Failure To Prevent Fraud
Posted 07/16/15
Fraud in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program is getting the attention of not only the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (HHS OIG) but also watchdogs on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday, July 14, 2015, the House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing to examine two recent reports from HHS OIG examining improper spending in the Medicare Part...
DOJ Gives Major Shoutout To Whistleblowers In $450M DaVita False Claims Act Settlement
Posted 06/26/15
By Gordon Schnell
On Wednesday, Denver-based provider of dialysis services DaVita Healthcare Partners, Inc. agreed to pay $450 million to resolve charges it violated the False Claims Act by purposely creating and then billing the government for unnecessary waste in administering the drugs Zemplar and Venofer to dialysis patients. DaVita is the largest provider of dialysis services in the US with dialysis clinics...
DOJ Catch Of The Week -- PharMerica Corporation
Posted 05/15/15
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "catch of the week" goes to PharMerica Corporation, an organization of long-term care pharmacies that dispense medications to residents of nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities across the country. Yesterday, PharMerica agreed to pay $31.5 million to settle charges it violated the Controlled Substances Act by dispensing Schedule II...
Does the FDA Hide Evidence of Clinical Fraud?
Posted 02/13/15
By Marlene Koury
The FDA protects the public health and assures all drugs are proven safe and effective by reputable scientific trials before they are licensed for sale. Or do they? An investigative reporting class at NYU found evidence showing when the FDA finds scientific fraud or misconduct, it does not notify the public, doctors, or the scientific community. Rather, the FDA "has shown a pattern of burying...