Whistleblower Insider Blog

Whistleblower Spotlight -- UNC Whistleblower Mary Willingham

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="262"] Photo Credit: ESPN[/caption] By Gordon Schnell This week's "Whistleblower Spotlight" features Mary Willingham, the former academic adviser at the University of North Carolina who went public on what she sees as the university's major failings in educating its big money athletes. In a talk she gave last week at the Durham Sports Club (as reported in WRAL.com),...

First Circuit Weighs In On Scope Of False Claims Act "First-To-File" Bar

By Gordon Schnell Under the so-called "first-to-file" rule, a whistleblower is precluded from bringing a False Claims Act case if one based on the same underlying facts is already pending. This pressure to be first to the courthouse forces whistleblowers to make a tradeoff between the speed and quality of their False Claims Act filing. In United States ex rel. Sun v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., the First Circuit...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - December 10, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team The only one jailed for CIA torture was the whistleblower who tried to expose it -- Former CIA officer John Kiriakou is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence for his efforts to expose the existence of the CIA's torture program.  Huffington Post Japanese protest new anti-whistleblower secrecy law -- Demonstrators flooded Tokyo’s streets over a new secrecy law limiting...

In Their Own Words - Hiyama

-- "THIS LAW WILL RESTRICT THE PEOPLES' RIGHT TO KNOW. IT'S FULL OF AMBIGUITY AND WILL TAKE US BACK TO THE 'PUBLIC PEACE AND ORDER' CONTROLS OF WORLD WAR II."

From Tomoki Hiyama, one of approximately 800 people who gathered in front of the Japanese Parliament, protesting Japan’s new anti-whistleblower secrecy law which will limit disclosure of government misconduct by imposing on anyone leaking state secrets (and...

In Their Own Words - Ross

-- “Undisclosed conflicts raise questions about the decision-making capacity of the committees and whether the public can have confidence in their recommendations.”

From Joseph Ross, associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, on the Wall Street Journal report that many doctors who sit on Food and Drug Administration panels reviewing medical devices have links to device makers undisclosed by the FDA. Click

Whistleblower News from the Inside - December 9, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team FDA advisors corporate connections not disclosed -- According to a Wall Street Journal report, “many doctors who sit on Food and Drug Administration panels reviewing medical devices have links to device makers undisclosed by the FDA.”  WSJ U.S. Agency for International Development deputy inspector general retires in wake of whistleblower claims -- Michael G. Carroll will...

In Their Own Words - Miller

-- “Keep on blowing those whistles . . . .”

From House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL.) who has led the probe of the VA hospital scandal first unearthed by whistleblowers working inside the hospital system.  Click here for more.

Whistleblower News from the Inside - December 5, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Former Bechtel executive pleads guilty to kickback scheme -- The former Principal Vice President of Bechtel Corporation and General Manager of the Power Generation Engineering and Services Company (PGESCo) pleaded guilty in connection with a $5.2 million kickback scheme intended to manipulate the competitive bidding process for state-run power contracts in Egypt.  DOJ Medicaid...

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Maricopa County Community College District

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "catch of the week" goes to Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD).  This is the Phoenix-based entity responsible for operating community colleges in Maricopa County, Arizona.  On Monday, the MCCCD agreed to pay $4.08 million to resolve charges it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Corporation for...

In Their Own Words - Willingham

-- "WE CAN FIX IT.  WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS, AND WE CAN STILL ENJOY GAME DAY."

From UNC whistleblower Mary Willingham on her efforts to expose the academic fraud associated with big-time college sports.  Click here for more.