In an opinion released on July 12th in United States ex rel. Osheroff v. Tenet Healthcare Corporation, the United States Federal Court for the Southern District of Florida rejected an argument that facts and information disclosed online constitute a “public disclosure” for the purposes of the False Claims Act (“FCA”).…
On June 22nd, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the decision of a federal district court to deny motions to direct a verdict or, alternatively, order a new trial. The trial court awarded damages for a retaliation claim filed under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). In…
After Barclay’s agreed to pay a $450 million criminal fine following an investigatory probe conducted by the Department of Justice, regulators in countries all over the world continue to evaluate the full scope and impact of the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) rate manipulation scandal. Barclay’s admitted to manipulating the…
Increased attention in recent years on fraud and abuse in the arenas of lending and finance has led to a burgeoning wave of litigation and recoveries under the federal False Claims Act (“FCA”). In its recent opinion handed down on June 18th, 2012, United States ex rel. Oberg v. Kentucky Higher Educ.…
An audit of the claims processing practices of Caremark, a company that merged with CVS to form CVS Caremark in 2007, has led to a whistleblower complaint under the False Claims Act (FCA) alleging potentially billions of dollars in fraud under the Medicare Part D program. The complaint was filed…
A mandated Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower program, instituted as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Bill, reached its one year anniversary this week with a reported fund of $452 million set aside to pay out the first year’s rewards. Whistleblowers may receive between 10% and 30% of the…
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court voted to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), the landmark health reform law enacted in 2010. The justices’ ruling in National Federation of Independent Business v Sebelius leaves intact nearly all of the provisions of the law (with the exception of an…
In the largest settlement yet reached against a pharmaceutical company, the British drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $3 billion in fines for marketing of three of its antidepressant drugs for off label uses (i.e., uses not approved by the FDA). The…
In a case that illustrates the growing number of off-label promotion cases filed under the False Claims Act, on May 7th it was announced that Abbott Laboratories had agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle allegations that it engaged in fraudulent marketing of its drug Depakote. The global settlement included…
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in a securities fraud class action lawsuit against Amgen Inc., the world’s largest biotechnology company. In the shareholder action, investors in Amgen have alleged that the company misrepresented safety concerns surrounding two of its…