Whistleblower Insider Blog

Jury Finds Eli Lilly Cheated Medicaid in Case Highlighting Legal Battle Over False Claims Act Intent Standard

Constantine Cannon whistleblower lawyers Marlene Koury and Leah Judge were published in Law360 on the verdict in favor of a whistleblower against Eli Lilly, and what that case says about legal developments in the interpretation of the False Claims Act since the Seventh Circuit’s SuperValu decision. This post is an adaptation of that article.

In August, a Chicago jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern...

Telehealth Boomed During the Pandemic - and so Did Telehealth Fraud

Prior to the pandemic, telehealth was basically nonexistent, with one study clocking the percentage of “virtual” doctors’ visits before Covid-19 at zero percent. At the time, America’s largest insurer, Medicare, only covered telemedicine in limited circumstances that usually still involved a visit to a healthcare facility. Medicare’s coverage limitations demonstrated the Department of Health and Human...

Channeling the Inner Whistleblower in Jerry Garcia on His 80th Birthday

It has been more than 25 years since he left us all too soon.  But the life and legend, and most importantly, the music of Jerry Garcia and his Grateful Dead band live on.  As we celebrate the 80^th anniversary of his birth (August 1, 1942), it is the perfect time to reflect on what this master musician accomplished and the impact he continues to have on so many of us today. For some, he represents a musical role...

Constantine Cannon Partner Gordon Schnell Published in Star Tribune on the Importance of National Whistleblower Appreciation Day

Last Saturday, July 30, 2022 was National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.  While there was not a lot of media attention on the event, the Star Tribune published a commentary by Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Partner Gordon Schnell on why the Day is so important and deserves so much more attention than it ever receives. As Schnell writes, the Day is not "just another made-up holiday to celebrate the peculiar...

Constantine Cannon Attorneys Explain How the Recent Conviction of Theranos COO Sunny Balwani Underlines the Need to Expand Whistleblower Rewards Programs

As Gordon Schnell and Max Voldman explain in Fortune, the Balwani conviction closed a chapter that began several years ago when whistleblowers at the company reported to the press and authorities what they saw as something very wrong in Elizabeth Holmes’ biotech startup.  They followed a path many whistleblowers have taken, risking their own careers and livelihoods, to stop what they saw as serious fraud and...

Whistleblower Must-Reads: Eleven Essential Books about Whistleblowers and the Whistleblowing Experience

Being a whistleblower can be an isolating experience. If you are a whistleblower or are considering blowing the whistle, you may feel like a lone truth-teller. That loneliness is real. Sometimes it can help to hear the stories of other whistleblowers, both as a reminder that there is a community of whistleblowers out there and to glean more insight into the whistleblowing process. To help with that, we are compiling a...

A recent case could undermine the rules that have been protecting taxpayer money from fraud since the time of Lincoln

Constantine Cannon whistleblower lawyers Eric Havian, Mike Ronickher, and Ari Yampolsky were published in Fortune.com on the Supreme Court's consideration of the SuperValu decision.

We’re whistleblower lawyers who spend our careers speaking in legalese. But every once in a while, a case comes along that is so alarming, yet so couched in jargon, that an issue of great importance can easily escape notice. When that...

American hospitals have been resistant to whistleblowers. Here’s how they can save money and lives by embracing them.

Last month, the American Hospital Association wrote a pointed letter to the Justice Department, asking them to investigate, and potentially sue, Medicare Advantage plans for improperly denying coverage of patients’ hospital services. Medicare Advantage is a popular government program that pays private insurers premiums to cover seniors, and the insurers are required by law to provide at least the same benefits as...

IRS Whistleblower Office Issues Delayed and Disappointing Annual Report on Whistleblower Program in Fiscal Year 2021

The IRS Whistleblower Office has released its required Annual Report to Congress, covering fiscal year 2021.  Disappointingly, the report shows a continuing decline in proceeds collected as a result of submissions to the IRS Whistleblower Program and a continuing decline in awards paid to whistleblowers who reported tax fraud under the program. The report itself was submitted four months later than in previous years...

Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Attorneys File Brief to Supreme Court on Behalf of Senator Grassley

Constantine Cannon whistleblower attorneys were proud to represent long-time champion of the False Claims Act (FCA) Senator Charles Grassley in filing an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court. In the brief, available here, Senator Grassley urges the Court to repair a worrying trend among certain courts that is undermining the statute. Specifically, the brief describes how the Seventh Circuit’s decision...