In Their Own Words -- Tillipman
Posted 07/10/15
Whistleblower Group
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Whistleblower News From The Inside -- July 10, 2015
Posted 07/10/15
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Stop calling Chuck Blazer a whistleblower -- Chuck Blazer didn’t voluntarily approach the government or media about the corrupt activities of his former colleagues – he only turned his back on FIFA when he had no other options, which makes him a cooperating witness, not a whistleblower. FCPA Blog
Secret plan to kill Wisconsin whistleblower law? -- Apparently Wisconsin...
Ninth Circuit Victory For Whistleblowers In Narrowing "Public Disclosure" And "First-To-File" Bars To Bringing Qui Tam Actions
Posted 07/10/15
In a major victory for whistleblowers, the Ninth Circuit in United States ex rel. Hartpence v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc. narrowed the reach of two significant bars to bringing qui tam lawsuits under the False Claims Act. Under the so-called "public disclosure" bar, the Ninth Circuit reversed its own precedent and ruled the "original source" exception to the bar does not require the whistleblower to have played a role...
DOJ Catch of The Week -- AstraZeneca And Cephalon
Posted 07/10/15
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
This week's Department of Justice "catch of the week" goes to AstraZeneca LP and Cephalon Inc. On Monday, each of these pharmaceutical companies agreed to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying rebates they owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. AstraZeneca agreed to pay $46.5 million with roughly $26.7 million going to the United...
Have We Reached the Final Round In the Government's Tuomey Kickback Case?
Posted 07/10/15
The United States won another round in its now almost eight year battle to hold South Carolina-based Tuomey Healthcare System liable for paying doctors illegal kickbacks. The litigation has been long and procedurally complex, but at bottom, the Government has alleged, and the jury has found, that Tuomey gave a group of doctors unreasonably lucrative employment arrangements to get them to send their patients to...
July 10, 2015
New York reached a $22.4 million settlement with the pharmacy Trinity Homecare LLC, primarily owned by Walgreen Co. The settlement relates to Synagis, an injectable drug for premature infants at risk for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (“RSV”). The drug can cost more than $2,000 per dose. Trinity had its staff try to sell Synagis by directly contacting the families of outpatient premature babies or their doctors, regardless of a patient’s need or if the baby’s current physician wanted it prescribed. According to allegations, initially lodged by a whistleblower hospital physician, Trinity staff improperly obtained babies’ names and other patient information from the hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit logbooks. The whistleblower also alleged that Trinity misappropriated her name and medical license number on one alleged Synagis prescription for a baby she had never cared for. The Attorney General also conducted an audit and found that Trinity billed Medicaid when the pharmacy had no written prescription or when a purported prescription was invalid, including because it lacked a prescriber’s signature, patient’s name or a date. NYJuly 10, 2015
A federal court in North Carolina fined Carl David Wright $1 million for operating a commodity pool fraud in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act, following a criminal case against Wright which concluded last year with a 4-year prison term and criminal fine. CFTCJuly 8, 2015
Constantine Cannon partner Tim McCormack quoted in McKnight’s on the risks facing long term care providers following announcement of Omnicare’s planned settlement with the DOJ of Depakote kickback suits. Click here to read the article.July 7, 2015
Partner Eric Havian quoted in The Recorder about en banc Ninth Circuit whistleblower case.In Their Own Words -- McCormack
Posted 07/9/15