Johnson & Johnson continues to fight allegations in at least nine states that it illegally marketed its anti-psychotic drug Risperdal, while approximately thirty states continue to investigate. According to the allegations, Johnson & Johnson concealed risks associated with the drug and marketed the drug for unapproved uses. A jury trial began in the case brought…
Prudential and MetLife Sued Under FCA for Holding onto Benefits
A recently unsealed whistleblower complaint alleges that life insurance companies MetLife Inc. and Prudential Inc. violated the Minnesota False Claims Act by holding onto unclaimed benefits which the companies were required to turn over to the state’s unclaimed property unit. The state, which is conducting a larger investigation into the practices of life insurance companies,…
Competitive Bidding to Lower Medicare Costs
In an effort to drive down costs and fraud, Medicare has expanded a competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment (“DME”) to include 91 of the nation’s largest health care markets. The program was established by the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, but has since faced several delays in implementation. Suppliers are currently submitting bids and…
Lockheed Martin Agrees to Pay $15.85 Million
Lockheed Martin has agreed to pay $15.85 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that it failed to properly supervise a subcontractor that provided it with perishable tools used in many of its government contracts. According to the government, the company recklessly passed on the subcontractor’s inflated bills to the government. The president…
LifeWatch Services to Pay $18.5 Million to Resolve FCA Case
LifeWatch Services Inc., a company that provides cardiac rhythm monitoring services, has agreed to pay $18.5 million to resolve allegations that the company used false diagnostic codes in order to bill Medicare for patients otherwise ineligible for reimbursement. LifeWatch also allegedly provided kickbacks to hospitals in the form of full time employees at no cost…
Calloway Laboratories to Pay $20 Million to Massachusetts for FCA Violations
Calloway Laboratories has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations that the company paid employees of a medical office and multiple sober houses to unnecessarily refer patients for urine drug screenings and billed for tests that were never ordered by a doctor or authorized prescriber. The company agreed to submit to a three year…
Harbert to Pay $47 Million in FCA Bid Rigging Case
Harbert Corporation, Harbert International Inc., Bill Harbert International Constructions Inc., Harbert Construction Services (U.K.) Ltd. And Bilhar International Establishment (“Harbert”) have agreed to pay $47 million to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by colluding to rig the bidding process for a USAID-funded contract. Harbert allegedly paid off other potential contractors…
Pfizer to Pay $3.3 Million to Oregon for Marketing Fraud
Pfizer has agreed to pay $3.3 million to the state of Oregon to settle allegations that it fraudulently marketed its antibiotic Zyvox. According to the state, Pfizer used unreliable and unsubstantiated claims and flawed clinical studies in marketing Zyvox as better than a cheaper generic. In 2009, the company paid $2.3 billion in a federal…
CityTime Contractor to Pay $500 Million
Science Applications International Corporation, the contractor tasked with creating New York City’s CityTime payroll system, has agreed to pay the city $500 million, nearly 80% of the cost of the project, to settle allegations that the company was involved in a kickback scheme. SAIC allegedly hired hundreds of consultants from TechnoDyne, driving the project’s costs…
Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss in Pacemaker FCA Case
A federal judge denied Boston Scientific’s motion to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that the company’s pacemaker division Guidant failed to issue a recall of its devices after receiving reports of failures in February 2002. The company had argued that the whistleblower, a patient who allegedly received a defective device which twice delivered…