The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has intervened in two False Claims Act suits filed against the pharmaceutical giant Novartis, alleging the company paid unlawful kickbacks to physicians and pharmacies in violation of federal law. Novartis is the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the world by sales, the global headquarters…
The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has filed a complaint in D.C. federal court against the former seven-time Tour de France champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, alleging that Mr. Armstrong defrauded the United States through use of performance-enhancing drugs. The complaint in the case, U.S. ex rel. Floyd Landis v.…
Amgen, a California-based biotechnology company, has reached a settlement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), as a result of which the company will pay $24.9 million to resolve claims of Medicare and Medicaid fraud brought under the False Claims Act. The United States alleges that Amgen paid unlawful kickbacks…
Fluor Hanford (“Fluor”), a company contracted by the U.S. Department of Energy to train federal emergency management personnel, will pay $1.1 million to resolve claims that it defrauded the government by using appropriated money to lobby the federal government for yet more funding in violation of the False Claims Act.…
Techota LLC, a home health care company, has agreed to a $150,000 settlement agreement with the United States to resolve all claims of liability under the federal False Claims Act. According to a complaint filed under the qui tam (whistleblower) provisions of the Act, Techota provides home health care services…
In United States ex rel. Nathan v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, an opinion handed down by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on January 11th, 2013, the Court upheld a restrictive view of the Rule 9(b) pleading standard as applied to claims brought under the False Claims Act. The…
New Jersey-based Cooper Health System and Cooper University Hospital have agreed to a $12.6 million settlement to resolve claims of Medicare and Medicaid fraud in violation of the False Claims Act. The agreement was the result of a multi-year investigation by the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the…
A recent opinion handed down by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in U.S. v. Caronia has raised serious questions about the constitutionality of criminal prosecutions for illegal promotion of drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), a statute which many proponents…
American Sleep Medicine LLC, a Florida-based company that owns 19 diagnostic sleep testing centers throughout the United States, has agreed to pay over $15.3 million to resolve claims that it submitted false claims for payment to Medicare and two other federal health insurance programs in violation of the False Claims…
A subsidiary of Orthofix International SV, Blackstone Medical Inc., has agreed to pay the federal government $30 million to resolve allegations that Blackstone remunerated doctors with illegal kickbacks in order to induce the use of its products. Orthofix is a manufacturer of spinal implants and other products used in spinal…