Whistleblower Insider Blog

The Long and Winding Road to Whistleblower Protections for Government Employees

Posted 10/5/12

By Marlene Koury On September 28, the House of Representatives unanimously passed the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (“WPEA”), various versions of which have been making the rounds in Congress for the past decade. The WPEA includes 10 reforms to the existing Whistleblower Protection Act (“WPA”), passed in 1989, which was supposed to protect from retaliation federal employees who report...

Tagged in: Whistleblower Protection Laws,

The Fraud Behind the Fraud of Off-Label Drug Marketing

Posted 10/5/12

By Gordon Schnell It has been one of the most common means for drug companies to get around what can be the very rigorous and time-consuming process of securing FDA approval for selling drugs. That is, taking drugs that the FDA has approved as safe and effective for one particular use and marketing them to the medical community and the public for an entirely different set of uses. This so-called off-label...

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud, Off-Label and Unapproved Use, Pharma Fraud,

So You Think You Want to Be a Whistleblower -- A Few Words for the Wise

Posted 09/27/12

By Gordon Schnell, Marlene Koury and Jason Enzler

This is a gilded age for whistleblowers. Relatively speaking that is. It was not all that long ago that whistleblowers were treated as mere opportunists ratting out their friends or colleagues. Squealing not for the greater good, but for a quick buck, or to cover up their own failings or misdeeds. Many still see it that way. Afterall, we are trained at an...

Tagged in: Importance of Whistleblowers,

What is Going On With Big Pharma?

Posted 09/13/12

By Gordon Schnell With GlaxoSmithKline’s recent blockbuster $3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice -- the largest health care fraud penalty on record -- you have to wonder what is going on in the world of Big Pharma these days. This is an industry that constantly complains of being misunderstood, underappreciated and unfairly maligned. And there is some legitimacy to their lament. Afterall,...

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud,

Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal Woes Roll On

Posted 09/13/12

By Jason Enzler The hits keep coming for Johnson & Johnson. On August 30, several state attorneys general announced that they have agreed to a $181 million settlement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a J & J subsidiary, regarding charges that the company was illegally promoting its antipsychotic drugs Risperdal and Invega. Click here for a press release from New York. The settlement, involving 36 states and the...

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud,

The IRS Whistleblower Office Gets Serious With Record Setting Award

Posted 09/12/12

By Gordon Schnell In a shot heard round the whistleblower world, the IRS has paid $104 million to former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld for blowing the whistle on the Swiss banking giant's scheme to help thousand of Americans cheat the IRS through secreting their assets in offshore accounts. This is the scandal that led to the bank's payment of a $780 million fine and to the voluntary disclosure by more than...

Tagged in: IRS Whistleblower Reward Program,

To Report or Not Report; Conflicting Guidance From the Courts -- What is a Whistleblower to Do?

Posted 09/10/12

By Gordon Schnell and Marlene Koury (published in the American Banker) Under the recently implemented whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, whistleblowers who report violations of the securities laws are supposed to be protected from being fired. These protections -- which can include reinstatement, double back pay and special damages -- are designed to serve as an incentive for whistleblowers to come...

Tagged in: FCPA,

The SEC Whistleblower Office is Open for Business

Posted 08/28/12

By Gordon Schnell and Marlene Koury With the payment of its first whistleblower reward last week, the SEC has declared loud and clear that its recently created Whistleblower Office is officially open for business. Click here for SEC press release. While relatively modest in amount -- only $50,000 for now -- what is particularly notable about the award is that it represented 30 percent of the total amount the...

Tagged in: SEC Whistleblower Reward Program,

The Government's New Public-Private Partnership in Tackling Healthcare Fraud – Seeking Prevention Over Punishment

Posted 08/16/12

By Marlene Koury The government has done a good job of late in recovering billions of dollars of fines from a host of companies big and small for committing various acts of healthcare fraud. The recoveries so far for this year alone have been record-setting, on their way to crossing the $10 billion mark. And this number is sure to grow even higher as the Obama Administration continues to ramp up its efforts to...

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud,

Taking Internal Whistleblowers More Seriously -- The DOJ's New Whistleblower Ombudsperson Position

Posted 08/14/12

By Gordon Schnell In a hopeful sign that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be taking internal whistleblowers more seriously, the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced last week the creation of a Whistleblower Ombudsperson position. The new ombudsperson will be responsible for educating DOJ staff on the role and importance of internal whistleblowers in uncovering agency abuse and mismanagement...

Tagged in: Whistleblower Protection Laws,

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The Long and Winding Road to Whistleblower Protections for Government Employees

The Fraud Behind the Fraud of Off-Label Drug Marketing

So You Think You Want to Be a Whistleblower -- A Few Words for the Wise

What is Going On With Big Pharma?

Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal Woes Roll On

The IRS Whistleblower Office Gets Serious With Record Setting Award

To Report or Not Report; Conflicting Guidance From the Courts -- What is a Whistleblower to Do?

The SEC Whistleblower Office is Open for Business

The Government's New Public-Private Partnership in Tackling Healthcare Fraud – Seeking Prevention Over Punishment

Taking Internal Whistleblowers More Seriously -- The DOJ's New Whistleblower Ombudsperson Position

Learn about Whistleblower Rewards Programs

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Whistleblower Quiz

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Whistleblower Insider Blog

The Long and Winding Road to Whistleblower Protections for Government Employees

The Fraud Behind the Fraud of Off-Label Drug Marketing

So You Think You Want to Be a Whistleblower -- A Few Words for the Wise

What is Going On With Big Pharma?

Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal Woes Roll On

The IRS Whistleblower Office Gets Serious With Record Setting Award

To Report or Not Report; Conflicting Guidance From the Courts -- What is a Whistleblower to Do?

The SEC Whistleblower Office is Open for Business

The Government's New Public-Private Partnership in Tackling Healthcare Fraud – Seeking Prevention Over Punishment

Taking Internal Whistleblowers More Seriously -- The DOJ's New Whistleblower Ombudsperson Position

Learn about Whistleblower Rewards Programs

Newsletter

Subscribe to receive email updates from the Constantine Cannon blogs

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