Whistleblower News From The Inside — July 19, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Russia may face Olympics ban as doping scheme is confirmed -- "The world’s leading antidoping officials on Monday called for Russia to be barred from this summer’s Rio Games after a damning report confirmed a Russian whistleblower’s claims of government-ordered cheating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics."  NYT EU fines truckmakers record $3.2 billion over 14-year cartel -- The European Commission has issued its biggest...

July 18, 2016

Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to a $30 million settlement to resolve allegations of unlawful kickbacks to physicians in the marketing of Pravachol and other drugs.  The claims were made in a whistleblower suit filed under the California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act by three former Bristol-Myers sales representatives, who will receive a share of the settlement.  CA

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- July 18, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Columbia University pays $9.5 million to settle excessive research cost reimbursement allegations --  Prosecutors said that the university applied for the higher on-campus reimbursement rate even though the research was conducted at off-campus facilities.  423 National Institutes of Health grants, from June 2003 to June 2015, were involved. Modern Healthcare Liberian ship management company indicted for environmental crimes --  Aegean Shipping Management and Aegeansun...

June 30, 2016

Florida cardiologist Dr. Asad Qamar and his practice, the Institute of Cardiovascular Excellence (ICE), will pay $2 million plus release any claim to $5.3 million in suspended Medicare funds, to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act by billing for medically unnecessary procedures and paying kickbacks to patients by waiving Medicare copayments irrespective of financial hardship.  By waiving the required copayments, Dr. Qamar and ICE induced patients to agree...

June 29, 2016

Minneapolis-based Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (CSI) agreed to pay $8 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying illegal kickbacks to induce physicians to use the company’s medical devices.  According to the government, CSI developed and distributed marketing materials to promote physicians using CSI’s devices to referring physicians; coordinated meetings between these physicians and referring physicians; and developed and implemented business expansion plans for the physicians. ...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — June 30, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team “Luxleaks” whistleblower convicted but avoids jail time – Former PwC employee Antoine Deltour, who revealed troves of documents regarding controversial tax deals, was convicted of theft in Luxembourg; Mr. Deltour received a 1 year suspended sentence and a €1,500 fine. The Guardian Three Texas doctors convicted of Medicare fraud – Three physicians were convicted of Medicare fraud for aiding in a $3.1M scheme by...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — June 29, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team New Jersey blood lab pleads guilty to role in $100M physician bribery case – Parsippany, New Jersey’s Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC, an entity at the center of a long-running and elaborate test referral scheme operated by its president and numerous associates,  pled guilty and was sentenced Tuesday in federal court. USAO District of New Jersey In wake of Escobar, FCA cases return to circuit...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — June 20, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Acquittal of pharmaceutical exec in kickback case shows challenges government faces in holding individuals accountable for corporate wrongdoing –  The former president of Warner Chilcott’s pharmaceutical unit was  accused of instructing sales reps to  wine and dine doctors and to pay them bogus “fees” to induce them to prescribe the company’s drugs. WSJ Calculating the fraud in higher education –  As part of a proposal to...

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- June 13, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Whistleblower case to be decided by Supreme Court probably the most important in a generation --  The Escobar case may not have this term’s  highest profile but its impact could be enormous.  “[T]he False Claims Act plays such a central role in the recovery of fraudulently obtained taxpayer funds, and the challenges to the act in the case before the court are so fundamental,...

June 9, 2016

Raleigh, North Carolina-based specialty pharmacy Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which sells products used to treat various gastroenterology conditions, agreed to pay $54 million to settle charges it violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by using its “speaker programs” as a mechanism to pay kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe Salix drugs and medical devices.  Specifically, the government alleged Salix held sham speaker programs, frequently at high-end...