December 18, 2015

Pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott entered in to a $23.3 million settlement with the California Department of Insurance to resolved allegations contained in a whistleblower lawsuit brought by three former employees alleging drug marketing fraud in violation of state law. The suit alleged that Warner Chilcott executives violated the California Insurance Code False Claims Act, which prohibits anyone from defrauding private insurance companies by using kickbacks or other inducements to procure...

December 17, 2015

Connecticut and other states have joined a global settlement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals to resolve allegations that Novartis provided kickbacks to certain specialty pharmacies in exchange for recommending the drug Exjade to Medicaid and Medicare patients. Novartis has paid the states and the federal government $390 million to resolve these allegations. CT, IL, NY, MI, WA

DOJ Announces Another Banner Year For False Claims Act Recoveries -- Whistleblowers Continue to Lead the Charge

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Yesterday, to much fanfare, the Department of Justice announced it had obtained more than $3.5 billion in False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries for its fiscal year 2015.  It is the fourth year in a row the $3.5 billion mark has been crossed, and brings to more than $26 billion the total FCA recoveries the government has obtained since 2009.  And once again, as the...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — December 1, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Peace Corps whistleblowers claim retaliation for reporting sexual assaults -- "More than 500 volunteers have reported experiencing a sexual assault in a little over two years.  CBS News spoke with nearly a dozen who questioned how their recent cases were handled.  They told us they felt criticized and were threatened they would be fired."  CBS UK whistleblower claims British American Tobacco paid bribes to...

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Operation Spinal Cap

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to the doctors and other healthcare professionals caught up this week in the government's "Operation Spinal Cap" dragnet.  In a series of related cases the DOJ announced yesterday, the former CFO of Long Beach, California-based Pacific Hospital, two orthopedic surgeons and two others have been charged in long-running health care fraud schemes that illegally...

In Their Own Words — Jones

-- “Injured workers were treated like livestock by doctors and hospitals who paid or accepted kickbacks and bribes in exchange for referrals.” California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones commenting on the recent round of criminal charges in the Justice Department’s ongoing fight against fraud in the spinal surgery industry, code-named “Operation Spinal Cap.”

November 24, 2015

In a series of related cases, a former hospital CFO, two orthopedic surgeons and two others have been charged in long-running health care fraud schemes that illegally referred thousands of patients for spinal surgeries and generated nearly $600 million in fraudulent billings over an eight-year period. The schemes involved tens of millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks to dozens of doctors, chiropractors and others. As a result of the illegal...

DOJ Enforcement Spotlight -- Novartis Settles Whistleblower Kickback Case for $390M

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team The Department of Justice continues its recent streak of False Claims Act wins with its $390 million settlement Friday with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. resolving charges the pharmaceutical giant gave kickbacks to specialty pharmacies in return for recommending two of its drugs, Exjade and Myfortic.  Of the $370 million, roughly $287 million will go to the federal government and $83 million to the settling states. ...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — November 23, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Doctor compensation likely to be issue in more FCA suits -- Recent settlements by hospitals that overcompensated physicians to induce referrals may be the beginning of a trend.  And whistleblowers are driving the Justice Dept.’s enforcement.  Modern Healthcare University of Florida will pay $20 million to settle grant fraud suit -- The government alleged that the University misused grants from the Dept. of Health & Human...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — November 11, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Russian doping whistleblower points at Kenya and Ethiopia – The whistleblower who came forward with allegations of a state sponsored doping program in Russian athletics thinks the World Anti-Doping Agency should examine other countries for similar practices.  The Guardian Home-health care agency owners indicted for $13 million Medicare fraud – Ebong Tilong and Marie Neba have been charged with conspiracy to use their Houston-based...