Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme
Posted 08/20/21
Underscoring the fraud risks associated with the government’s continued expansion and loosening of restrictions on telehealth, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that a grand jury in New Jersey has returned a superseding indictment against the Florida owner of multiple telemedicine companies, referred to by DOJ prosecutors as the Video Doctor Network, for allegedly participating in a massive Medicare...
Senator Grassley Leads Bi-Partisan Pro-Whistleblower Push to Amend False Claims Act
Posted 07/30/21
Perennial whistleblower-champion Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is at it again. This time with the bi-partisan legislation he just introduced to further expand the reach of the False Claims Act, the government's key fraud enforcement tool. The statute was enacted in 1863 to fight widespread fraud by companies selling rotten food, sickly mules, and defective weapons to the Union Army during the Civil War.
But...
Constantine Cannon Celebrates National Whistleblower Day
Posted 07/30/21
Today, along with U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley and other members of Congress, we celebrate National Whistleblower Day, marking the occasion, on July 30, 1778, when the Continental Congress unanimously enacted the first whistleblower protection law in the United States. As whistleblower advocates, it is a day to reflect on the courage, sacrifice, and patriotism of whistleblowers both in the United States and around...
Compliance Week to Feature Two Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Clients in New Series
Posted 07/23/21
Compliance Week announced this week a new series of articles on whistleblowers, highlighting the important role they play while simultaneously being stigmatized for doing the right thing. The six-part series titled “Witness to Wrongdoing” was announced on July 21st and will feature the stories of various whistleblowers, including two Constantine Cannon clients. The series will run from July 26th to July 30th...
Cases under the False Claims Act live or die on their evidence, and it’s no surprise that defendants wage long wars to resist efforts by the plaintiff (whether a whistleblower or the government) to prove their case. Heeding the old saw about the best defense, defendants also generally go on the offensive. They happily foot staggering legal bills to try to wear out a typically less-well-funded plaintiff with...
Fifth Circuit Affirms Government Dismissal Of Cases Brought By Corporate Whistleblower
Posted 07/16/21
Last week, a three-judge panel of the Court of the Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with the government in its bid to dismiss a whistleblower case brought by a limited liability company against pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Bayer. The case offers another example of the government flexing its dismissal power in the wake of the Granston Memo, a 2018 Department of Justice directive to winnow False Claims Act...
In Defense of Whistleblowers: Poppy Alexander Appears on Law & Disorder Podcast
Posted 07/13/21
Constantine Cannon whistleblower attorney Poppy Alexander was interviewed as a featured guest on the Law & Disorder podcast. In an interview with Heidi Boghosian, Poppy discussed the False Claims Act, including its rewards and protections for whistleblowers. The FCA allows private persons, known as relators, to bring what are called qui tam lawsuits on the government’s behalf, and claim a share of any recovery...
FDA’s Approval of Alzheimer’s Drug Highlights Need for Whistleblowers
Posted 07/9/21
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to protect American consumers from unscrupulous private actors—charlatans, snake-oil salesmen, and the like—seeking to profit by selling unproven medical “cures,” treatments, and devices to the public. Emerging during the era of the robber barons as part of Theodore Roosevelt’s efforts to “civilize capitalism,” the FDA has prevented untold harm to...