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Top-10 Whistleblower Successes for 2017

Posted  January 23, 2018

Here is our look-back at the top-10 whistleblower successes for 2017 based on the amount of the whistleblower award recovered or, if not known, the amount the government recovered prompted by the whistleblower’s efforts in coming forward.  Click here for a chronological listing of all whistleblower recoveries for 2017.

  1. Mylan — Pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis US will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $39 million from the $465 million pharmaceutical companies Mylan Inc. and Mylan Specialty L.P. agreed to pay to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act by purposely misclassifying EpiPen as a generic drug to avoid paying higher Medicaid rebates.  Whistleblower Insider
  2. Shire Pharmaceuticals — Multiple whistleblowers will receive an undisclosed whistleblower award from the $350 million Ireland-based Shire Pharmaceuticals LLC agreed to pay to settle charges that Shire, certain subsidiaries and the company it acquired in 2011, Advanced BioHealing, violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by using kickbacks and other unlawful methods to induce clinics and physicians to use or overuse their “Dermagraft” skin product.  Whistleblower Insider
  3. Agility Public Warehousing — Kamal Mustafa Al-Sultan, a former vendor of Kuwaiti-based Agility Public Warehousing Co. KSC will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $39 millionfrom the $95 million Agility agreed to pay and the $249 million in administrative claims against the government it agreed to forgo to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by overcharging the Department of Defense on contracts to supply food for U.S. troops from 2003 through 2010.  DOJ
  4. Allied Home Mortgage — A whistleblower will receive an undisclosed award from the $296 million judgment against the entities formerly known as Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation and Allied Home Mortgage Corporation and the $25 million judgment against Allied’s president and CEO Jim Hodge, for their violations of the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) for defrauding the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) mortgage insurance program.  DOJ (SDNY)
  5. Celgene — Beverly Brown, a former sales manager of New Jersey-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Celgene Corp., will receive an undisclosed whistleblower award from the $280 million Celgene agreed to pay to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act for promoting two cancer treatment drugs — Thalomid and Revlimid — for uses not approved by the FDA.  DOJ (CDCA)
  6. eClinicalWorks — Brendan Delaney, a software technician formerly employed by the New York City Division of Health Care Access and Improvement, will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $30 millionfrom the $155 million Massachusetts-based electronic health records software vendor eClinicalWorks agreed to pay to resolve charges it violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting the capabilities of its software and paying kickbacks to certain customers in exchange for promoting its product.  DOJ
  7. SEC Award — The SEC announced awards of more than $16 million to two whistleblowers whose critical information and continuing assistance helped the agency bring the successful underlying enforcement action.  SEC
  8. Chemed Corp. — Several whistleblowers will receive an undisclosed award from the $75 million Ohio-based Chemed Corporation and various wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Vitas Hospice Services LLC and Vitas Healthcare Corporation, agreed to pay to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims for hospice services to Medicare for patients not terminally ill.  DOJ
  9. TeamHealth — Dr. Bijan Oughatiyan, a physician formerly employed by IPC Healthcare (succeeded by TeamHealth Holdings), will receive $11.4 million from the $60 million TeamHealth agreed to pay to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare, Medicaid, the Defense Health Agency and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for higher and more expensive levels of medical service than were actually performed (a practice known as “up-coding”).  DOJ
  10. CA Inc. — Dani Shemesh, a former employee of CA Software Israel LTD, will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $10.2 millionfrom the $45 million New York based information technology management software company CA Inc. agreed to pay to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by making false claims in the negotiation and administration of a General Services Administration contract.  DOJ

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