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 $700M
drug settlement could spark whistleblower suits (PDF)
Robert
M. Thomas featured in Massachusetts Laywers Weekly, 11/14/2005
Serono
agrees to pay $704 million to settle fraud allegations
Robert
M. Thomas featured in The Boston Globe, 10/18/2005
Swiss drugmaker Serono SA has agreed to pay $704 million to settle criminal
and civil charges that it illegally promoted its AIDS drug, prosecutors
said yesterday, in one of the biggest sums collected in the government's
growing scrutiny of pharmaceutical firms.
In papers unsealed on October 17, 2005, the prosecutors announced that
five former employees who filed whistleblower complaints will receive
17% of the government’s civil recovery. The combined federal and state
“relators’ share” will exceed $75 million. Thomas & Associates’ client,
Frank Garcia expects to receive more than $10 million as part of the settlement.
Serono
Settlement Press Release (PDF)
(Word) | (Web)
 Boston Globe
coverage:
$704m penalty for drug maker: Improper efforts to build demand (PDF)
>>NECN Video:
 Drug
firm pays $700 million settlement
>>Related articles:
Serono agrees to pay $704 million to settle fraud allegations (PDF)
Pharmacies
that sold AIDS drug by Serono may face US inquiry (PDF)
Harvard
Defendants Pay Over $31 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations,
Reports U.S. Attorney
April
22, 2005
In a settlement reached with the United States, HARVARD, SHLEIFER, HAY
and FFIA, formerly known as Farallon Fixed Income Associates, LP, have
agreed to pay a total amount in excess of $31 million to resolve civil
claims arising out of Harvard's fraudulent billings to the U.S. Agency
for International Development ("USAID").
PRNewswire
More
»
ADL
to pay $65M to settle government fraud claim
March 2005
Arthur D. Little (ADL), now known officially in Chapter 11
Proceedings as Dehon Inc., has agreed to pay the United States government
$6.5 million to resolve civil claims related to ADL's overbillings to
the federal government allegedly the result of inflating indirect costs
and overhead charges on various government contracts, according U.S. Attorney
Michael J. Sullivan.
More » (PDF) | More
» (Mass High Tech)
Related
Link » (USDOJ
Press Release)
Do
you know of fraud related to a government contract? Please contact us.
BROOKLINE
DERMATOLOGIST INDICTED FOR DEFRAUDING MEDICARE OF OVER $5.4 MILLION
March 2005
In a federal Indictment unsealed today, a Brookline doctor
has been charged with mail fraud, health care fraud, obstruction of justice
and money laundering in connection with defrauding Medicare of approximately
$5.4 million.
More » (USDOJ
Press Release)
Do
you know of fraud related to a health care? Please contact us.
Researcher
admits fraud in grant data
March 2005
In the worst case of scientific fakery to come to light in
two decades, a top obesity researcher who long worked at the University
of Vermont admitted yesterday that he fabricated data in 17 applications
for federal grants to make his work seem more promising, helping him win
nearly $3 million in government funding.
More » (PDF) | More
» (boston.com)
Do
you know of fraud related to a study or grant? Please contact us.
Mass.
Investigating Big Dig Contractors
March 2005
The Massachusetts attorney general is investigating two of
the largest contractors in the $14.6 billion Big Dig highway project amid
new questions about the project's safety. The civil investigation into
Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and Modern Continental Construction Co. focuses
on what Attorney General Thomas Reilly called poor oversight and shoddy
work on the project, a system of bridges and tunnels plagued by cost overruns
and riddled by leaks and other flaws.
More
» (Wired magazine PDF) | More
» (Wired.com)
Do
you know of fraud in the Big Dig? Please contact us.
Bad
Medicine (featuring Suzanne Durrell quote)
Feb. 2005
Drug companies, already under fire for selling medications
that don't work, are bribing doctors to prescribe pills you don't need.
"To gather evidence, prosecutors
painstakingly searched through years of billing by individual doctors.
"You could see doctors literally switching the cancer medication
that a patient would be on based not on the best treatment for the patient,
but based on the spread for the doctor on that drug," says Suzanne
E. Durrell, former head of the civil division in the U.S. Attorney's Office
in Boston, who supervised the case."
More
» (Boston magazine PDF) | More
» (Boston
magazine Word)
U.S.
Recovers $1.8B-plus Thru Health
Care Fraud Enforcement in 2003
Feb. 2005
In 2003, the Federal government won or negotiated more than
$1.8 billion in judgments and settlements in health care fraud matters.
As a result of enforcement actions, judgments, settlements, and administrative
proceedings, the Federal government was able to distribute during 2003
$1.03 billion of the funds collected.
Excerpt
of Accomplishments » (PDF) | Full
Report » (PDF)
U.S.
SETTLES CASE OF GENE THERAPY STUDY THAT ENDED WITH TEEN'S DEATH
Feb. 2005
United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan today announced that
the government has reached civil settlements stemming from a University
of Pennsylvania gene therapy study that ended with the death of a participant;
Arizona teenager Jesse Gelsinger. The settlements cover alleged false
statements and claims made between July 1998 through September 1999.
(Related topics: clinical research institutions)
More
» (PDF)
NEC
Unit Admits It Defrauded Schools
May 2004
Criminal investigations into corruption and waste in the E-Rate
program, a federal plan to bring Internet access to poor schools and libraries,
yielded their biggest legal settlement to date on Thursday. NEC Business
Network Solutions, a subsidiary of NEC, the computer giant, agreed to
plead guilty to two federal felony counts, one for wire fraud and one
for antitrust violation, and to pay $20.7 million in fines and restitution.
More
» (external site, New York Times)
Pfizer
settles fraud case for $430 million
May 2004
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (PFE) agreed to pay $430 million
and plead guilty to charges that its epilepsy drug, Neurontin, was marketed
for uses unapproved by the federal government.
More
» (external site, USA Today)
$26.6M
won't change me, whistleblower says
May 2004
Seven years ago, David Franklin sued his former employer, Warner-Lambert,
for illegally marketing an epilepsy drug for unapproved uses. Little did
he know how much that lawsuit would unsettle his life.
More
» (external site, USA Today)
Firm
to plead guilty to defrauding E-rate
May 2004
Criminal investigations into corruption and waste in the E-Rate
program, a federal plan to bring Internet access to poor schools and libraries,
yielded their biggest legal settlement to date on Thursday. NEC Business
Network Solutions, a subsidiary of NEC, the computer giant, agreed to
plead guilty to two federal felony counts, one for wire fraud and one
for antitrust violation, and to pay $20.7 million in fines and restitution.
More
» (external site, New York Times)
Medicare
Targets Drug Fraud: Scam Artists Sponge Off Prescription Program Before
It Begins
April 2004
Medicare chief Mark B. McClellan announced a series of initiatives
yesterday designed to help thwart hucksters and scam artists who he said
have already begun preying on the government's new prescription drug program.
More
» (external site, The Washington Post) (Click
here to see the Whistleblower Award mentioned)
U.S.
Recovers $5.7 Billion in Healthcare Fraud in Five Years
April 2004
The federal government recovered $5.7 billion from civil healthcare
fraud cases from 1999 through 2003, according to a report released April
22 by the Economic and Social Research Institute. The federal government
recovered $13 for every dollar it spent pursuing healthcare fraud, the
study said. In 2003, $1.65 billion was recovered, an increase of 38% over
2001 and more than double the 2000 total.
More
» (external site, SCPIE)
Medicare
will police new drug cards
April 2004
As the Medicare program expands its benefits, particularly
with new coverage of prescription drugs, "we know we need to be ready
for those who would take advantage," Medicare Administrator Mark
McClellan said at an event to highlight fraud-fighting efforts.
More
» (external site, Reuters Health)
Lawmaker
suggests task force to prevent drug benefit program abuses
April 2004
A key whistleblower protector on Thursday called for an interagency
task force to detect potential fraud in the Medicare prescription drug
program.
More
» (external site, GovExec.com)
Medco
to pay $5.5m in drug benefits settlement
April 2004
Medco Health Solutions will pay Massachusetts $5.5 million
to settle allegations that the company cheated the state while it managed
prescription drug benefits for nearly 200,000 state employees and retirees,
according to documents expected to be filed in US District Court today.
More
» (external site, The Boston Globe)
The
False Claims Act: New West Title Analyzes the Government's Primary Fraud
Enforcement Tool
March 2004
More
»
Former
Polaroid Corporation Settles False Claims Act Suit, Reports U.S. Attorney
March 2004
The United States has settled a civil suit brought against
the former POLAROID CORPORATION for violations of the federal False Claims
Act. The False Claims Act makes it unlawful to knowingly submit a false
or fraudulent claim for payment to the United States.
More
» (external site, Yahoo! Finance)
Eisenhower
Calls for Passage of A Pennsylvania State False Claims Act
Feb. 2004
Jim
Eisenhower, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, today called on
the Pennsylvania State Legislature to enact proposed legislation, known
as the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, which will substantially enhance enforcement
and collection efforts against persons and entities that defraud the Commonwealth
and local governments.
More
»
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