Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Program Delay Raises Concerns Among U.S. Senators
Posted 02/8/24
Whistleblower Group
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February 8, 2024
The CFPB has ordered that Consumer First Legal Group, LLC, and attorneys Thomas G. Macey, Jeffrey J. Aleman, Jason Searns, and Harold E. Stafford pay $12 million in consumer redress and penalties for charging millions in advance fees to homeowners seeking foreclosure relief. The advance fees charged were allegedly for legal representation, but the company and the attorneys failed to provide any. CFPBFebruary 8, 2024
Whistleblower partner Gordon Schnell quoted in Law360 on the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision in Murray v. UBS which confirmed the lower standard whistleblowers must meet to bring successful retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (subscription needed).A Staggering Number of NYC Housing Authority Employees Charged with Bribery, Extortion
Posted 02/7/24
Vatican Puts Out the Call for Whistleblowers
Posted 02/7/24
February 1, 2024
One of the nation’s largest healthcare systems, Providence, has agreed to forgive more than $137 million in medical debt and refund more than $20 million to patients following a lawsuit by Washington State. According to the Attorney General’s Office, between 2018 and 2023, Providence trained staff to demand payments from low income patients who were eligible for financial assistance, then sent some of those same patients to debt collectors even if they were Medicaid beneficiaries. Almost 99,500 patients will receive relief as a result of this settlement, with the average refund amounting to about $478. WA AGFebruary 1, 2024
Marketing firm Publicis Health, which was agency of record for all of Purdue Pharma’s branded opioid drugs as well as for other opioid manufacturers, has agreed to a $350 million national settlement for helping to fuel the prescription opioid crisis. A government investigation found that the multinational company farmed data from recordings of conversations between patients and providers and used that data to develop Purdue’s sales tactics. As part of this settlement, Publicis has also agreed to disclose thousands of internal documents detailing its work for opioid companies, such as Purdue, on a public website. CA AG; NC AG; PA AGFebruary 1, 2024
Hikma Pharmaceauticals has reached a settlement in principle with multiple states for $150 million following allegations that the opioid manufacturer failed to monitor and report suspicious orders. From the settlement proceeds, $115 million will be paid in cash, while the remaining $35 million will be allocated toward opioid addiction treatment medications. CA AG; NC AG; VA AGJanuary 31, 2024
In the fourth-largest Controlled Substances Act (CSA) settlement in history, e-commerce company eBay has agreed to pay $59 million for its failure to properly regulate the sales of pill presses and encapsulating machines on its website. Such devices can be used to produce pills that mimic pills produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies. To combat this, the CSA requires that purchasers of such devices have their identities verified, recorded, and reported to the DEA; however, eBay failed to do so. DOJThe Antitrust Week In Review
Posted 01/31/24
Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.
Yale, Duke and Columbia Among Elite Schools to Settle in Price-Fixing Case. For almost a quarter of a century, a coterie of the nation’s most elite universities had a legal shield: They would be exempt from federal antitrust laws when they shared formulas to measure prospective students’...