Whistleblower Group

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. NY

July 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.  CFTC

July 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.

July 8, 2015

The marketers of a dietary supplement called Procera AVH will relinquish $1.4 million under settlements resolving FTC charges that they deceived consumers with claims that the supplement was clinically proven to significantly improve memory, mood, and other cognitive functions. Under the terms of the settlements, the defendants will pay $1 million to the FTC, and another $400,000 to satisfy a judgment in a case brought by local California law enforcement officials. They also will be barred from making similar deceptive claims in the future and from misrepresenting the existence, results, or conclusions of any scientific study. FTC