Whistleblower Group

Case Tests Tension Between False Claims Act and First Amendment

By Marlene Koury The much claimed but never proven tension between the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and First Amendment is being tested again in United States v. Millenium Pharmaceuticals Inc., currently pending in the Eastern District of California.  The whistleblower, a former pharmaceutical sales representative, alleges in his complaint that Millennium Pharmaceuticals illegally promoted the off-label use of...

Barker Decision Extends Attorney-Client Privilege Waiver to False Claims Act Cases

The attorney-client privilege is perhaps the most critical component of the attorney-client relationship.  As the Supreme Court declared in its landmark Upjohn decision, the privilege exists "to encourage full and frank communication between attorneys and their clients and thereby promote broader public interests in the observation of law and administration of justice."  As most would agree, without the privilege...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - September 2, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team NY to go after Evans Bank for racial redlining -- The one-hundred year old Buffalo-based bank is being accused of "deliberately choking off mortgage lending to predominantly minority communities."  NYT More on the CDC vaccine whistleblower -- Opinion piece on the "apparent efforts by most media outlets to censor and downplay this story and try to discredit people reporting on...

Monthly Roundup -- August 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Here is our look-back at the key whistleblower and fraud developments we have written about over the past month: Featured Posts and Commentary

• First Circuit Rules on Tax Deductibility of False Claims Act Settlements

The First Circuit issued a decision recently on a matter of first impression for the circuit: whether courts may consider factors outside of settlement agreements...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - August 29, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team DOJ intervenes in qui tam case against Evercare Hospice -- The government has elected to join a whistleblower lawsuit against the company for submitting false claims under the Medicare program.  Corporate Crime Reporter Judge upholds landmark verdict in Chicago State University whistleblower case -- The court upheld a verdict ordering over $3 million in damages and...

First Circuit Rules on Tax Deductibility of False Claims Act Settlements

By Jason Enzler The First Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision recently on a matter of first impression for the circuit: whether courts may consider factors outside of settlement agreements in False Claims Act cases in order to determine whether portions of a settlement can be deducted from a defendant’s tax liability. In ruling that courts can indeed look beyond the agreements, the First Circuit in...

The Final Phoenix VA Report Is Out – No Deaths Linked To Delays?

By Marlene Koury The VA Office of the Inspector General ("OIG") released its final report this week on the alleged patient deaths, wait times and scheduling issues at the Phoenix VA.  Despite the allegations of several whistleblowers, the investigators found that there was no conclusive evidence that delays in care were linked to veterans' deaths. But the report cautioned that, even so, the Phoenix VA has...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - August 26, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team NP Precision Inc. pleads guilty to $1.2M fraud – The majority owner of defense contractor NP Precision, which produces and sells hardware components used in military aircraft, plead guilty to misusing progress payments on government contracts by failing to pay subcontractors and requesting progress payments under the contracts for costs that it had not actually incurred.