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Whistleblower Blog

OFF LABEL MARKETING: BIG PHARMA’S PRESCRIPTION FOR PROFITS

The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibits pharmaceutical companies from marketing or promoting a drug for uses that the FDA has not approved. This practice is known in the industry as “off label marketing”. Increasingly, pharmaceutical companies have purposely engaged in off label marketing in order to increase profits at the price of public safety. Practitioners in this area see this every day. Whether the public and even the medical profession is aware of the extent of this practice is unknown. Nonetheless, it appears that the False Claims Act remains one of the best tools available to address this deplorable practice.

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Retaliation Against Whistleblowers and Witnesses in Federal Proceedings

While there are many specific retaliation provisions unique to claims filed under the False Claims Act, with the Equal Opportunity Commission and/or arising out of Sarbanes-Oxley provisions, all of which protect informant employees from being retaliated against by their employer, a little known fact is that there is a general statute (42 U.S.C. § 1985) which makes it unlawful for two or more persons to conspire to “deter” a witness from testifying in Federal Court. This statute also makes it unlawful to “retaliate” against a
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Tax Whistleblowers Encouraged to Come Forward

Even though the Internal Revenue Service has had a Rewards Program for many years, until recently, there was very little encouragement for tax whistleblowers or informants to come forward concerning their knowledge of the under-reporting of taxes. While it is well known that income tax evasion costs taxpayers approximately $300 billion a year, the Internal Revenue Service in the past has failed to aggressively address this problem. While enforcement actions against criminals are designed to help deter tax fraud, the $300 billion annual figure is
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Accounting Firm Partners Indicted in Tax Fraud Case Over Tax Shelters Promoted by Ernst & Young

IRS whistleblowers and whistleblower attorneys take note: accounting firms participating in selling tax shelters were jolted by today’s announcement of the indictment of four Ernst & Young partners for tax fraud conspiracy and other federal criminal charges relating to tax shelters.

The four accountants were alleged to have marketed tax shelter transactions based on fraudulent factual scenarios, through which wealthy taxpayers could eliminate or reduce the taxes paid to the IRS, according to the government’s announcement. All four persons charged had worked in E&Y’s group
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New Whistleblower Law on Medicaid Fraud Signed Today by Governor of Georgia

I was excited to be invited to participate in today’s signing of the new Georgia “State False Medicaid Claims Act,” the newest state qui tam whistleblower law. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Edward Lindsey, asked this whistleblower lawyer blog author to join him and representatives of the Georgia Department of Community Health in the Governor’s Office for the signing ceremony.

Having worked with legislators on this bill, I was very happy to celebrate the law’s passage today:Participating in the signing ceremony with Governor Sonny
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Addendum: IRS Whistleblower Office Is Off to a Strong Start . . .

I posted earlier today on this whistle blower lawyer blog about the comments of the Director of the new IRS Whistleblower Office, Stephen Whitlock, on how the IRS Whistleblower program is off to a good start, with credible claims and supporting evidence having been submitted by whistleblowers and their attorneys.

Since then, my partner commented that he believes one of our larger cases was referred to in the IRS Director’s comments about “knowledgeable insiders.” We also neglected to mention our IRS Whistleblower
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New IRS Whistleblower Director Says IRS Rewards Program Is Off to a Strong Start

The head of the new IRS Whistleblower Office, Stephen Whitlock, reports that the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program is off to a strong start.

Today’s Wall Street Journal quotes Mr. Whitlock as saying that the claims submitted to the IRS Whistleblower Office to date appear to have credibility and have evidence to support them.

Since the new IRS Whistleblower program was authorized by Congress in December, our firm has been working with the IRS in pursuing whistleblower claims in the Midwest,
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Whistleblower Case Victory in D.C. Bid-Rigging Trial

A qui tam whistleblower and his lawyer are very happy as a result of a $102 million jury verdict–to be shared by the whistleblower–in a False Claims Act trial that ended on May 14.

The defendants in this whistleblower case included Bill Harbert International Construction Inc.; Harbert Construction Services; Bilhar International Establishment; Harbert Corp.; and Harbert International. The case alleged bid-rigging on three U.S. government-funded construction contracts in Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s.

The jury found that defendants violated the False Claims Act and awarded $34 million in damages, which are “trebled” under the False Claims Act.

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“Lessons from Health Care Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid” to Begin on This Whistleblower Lawyer Blog

Because health care fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs is such a huge problem, this week our whistleblower lawyer blog writers (former federal prosecutors who are now whistleblower attorneys) begin a series of posts on “Lessons from Health Care Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.”

We will discuss how whistle blowers in the medical services profession have been important resources in revealing and stopping health care fraud in hospitals, nursing homes, physicians’ practices, and the pharmaceutical or drug industry. We also discuss how the
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Texas Upgrades Its Qui Tam Whistleblower Statute–and Considers An Even Better Whistleblower Law

Just after Georgia, New York, and Oklahoma have passed new whistleblower laws similar to the federal False Claims Act to protect at least state Medicaid funds, Texas is poised to do even more.

We were pleased to see that, on May 4, Texas upgraded its already successful Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act. The changes were designed to allow Texas to receive a greater share of Medicaid fraud recoveries, as we have written about previously on this whistleblowerlawyerblog. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 creates
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Illegal Tax Shelter Case Trial Postponed As Judge Disqualifies Counsel in KPMG Case

Our whistleblower lawyer blog attorneys have written about how abusive and fraudulent tax shelters promoted by accounting firms are priorities on the list of conduct that the IRS (and IRS tax whistleblowers) seek to stop. We have followed the KPMG tax shelter prosecution, which was set for opening statements to begin on October 23.

Just before the trial, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan responded to a late motion by the government pointing out potential conflicts of interest by counsel for former KPMG
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Tax Write-Offs of Fraudulently Created Business Losses: A Need for Whistleblowers

Individuals who have knowledge of the fraudulent write-off of bogus business losses are in a position to reap the rewards from such illegal conduct should they report it under the IRS Whistleblower Program. If a business writes off bogus business losses from a transaction and claims a tax refund, for example, such a transaction could constitute fraud and thereby expose the company to a whistleblower action by an insider with knowledge of such fraud. An apparent example of this was reported this week in
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IRS Whistleblower Program Featured, With Interview of “Whistle-Blower Lawyer” Blog, in Financial Week Magazine

The new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program–and observations by one of the whistleblower lawyer blog attorneys–were featured in an October 15, 2007 article by Nicholas Rummell in Financial Week. Financial Week is a publication geared toward the CFO and other professionals in finance and accounting, with coverage of economics and business markets, regulatory and legislative actions, financing, banking, insurance, real estate, cash management, investment management, benefits and retirement finance, investor relations, accounting and technology.

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Whistleblower Lawyer Article on Medicaid Fraud Is Published by Georgia Bar Journal

The just released October 2007 edition of the Georgia Bar Journal, the primary bar magazine for lawyers practicing in Georgia, includes a key Whistleblower article written by one of the co-authors of this blog, Michael A. Sullivan. The article is entitled A “False Claims Act” is Finally Enacted in Georgia: What Georgia Lawyers Should Know About The State False Medicaid Claims Act. Obviously, Finch McCranie, LLP is proud that one of its partners had this article published by the State Bar’s leading journal and
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Whistleblower Law Firm Adds Retired Judge As “Counsel” to Its Clients

Your whistleblower lawyer blog attorneys are proud to announce that a retired judge has joined their firm, Finch McCranie, LLP, to assist in representing their clients.

Stephen E. Boswell, former Chief Judge of Clayton County Superior Court in the metro Atlanta, Georgia area, has joined the firm as “counsel.”

Judge Boswell recently retired from the Superior Court bench after serving 13 years as a Superior Court Judge, over two periods of service since 1982. Previously, he was in private practice in the Atlanta
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Whistleblower Lawyer Blog Special: Article on How the Successes of the False Claims Act Have Inspired a Wave of State Qui Tam Whistleblower Laws

To assist those who want to know more details about the nation’s primary whistleblower law, the False Claims Act, as well as the wave of new state qui tam whistleblower laws that mirror the False Claims Act, the whistleblower lawyer blog attorneys are pleased to present this detailed article. A version of this article by whistleblower lawyer blog author Michael A. Sullivan has just been published in the October 2007 Georgia Bar Journal, and is reprinted here in updated
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Part 6: The State False Claims Acts: Qui Tam Whistleblower Laws That Seek to Repeat the Successes of the Federal False Claims Act

This Part 6 is the final installment by whistleblower lawyer blog of an article explaining why the major qui tam whistleblower statutes, the federal False Claims Act, has led to a wave of new state False Claims Acts. It is part of a recently published article by whistleblower lawyer blog author Michael A. Sullivan, and this article is reprinted with the permission of the Georgia Bar Journal.

This Part 6 describes the new state whistleblower laws and how states have fared to date in recovering taxpayer money wrongfully through fraud and false claims. It also discusses some interesting new approaches that some states have taken in improving on the federal False Claims Act with their own statutes.

V. Other States’ Experiences With Their Own False Claims Acts

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Part 5: The False Claims Act’s Successes–and How They Have Prompted a Wave of State False Claims Acts With Qui Tam Whistleblower Provisions

This is Part 5 of 6 by whistleblower lawyer blog of a detailed article for those wishing to know more about the principal qui tam whistleblower statutes, the federal False Claims Act and the new state False Claims Acts. It is part of a recently published article by whistleblower lawyer blog author Michael A. Sullivan, and this article is reprinted with the permission of the Georgia Bar Journal.

This Part 5 discusses the dramatic successes of the federal False Claims Act since its 1986 Amendments in recovering taxpayers’ money wrongfully obtained by fraud and false claims.

IV. The Trend of Recent Recoveries Under the False Claims Act

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Part 4: The Modern False Claims Act–How It Works

This Part 4 by whistleblower lawyer blog is a continuation of a detailed article for those wishing to know the specifics of the principal qui tam whistleblower statutes, the federal False Claims Act and the new state False Claims Acts. It is taken from a recently published article by whistleblower lawyer blog author Michael A. Sullivan, and it is reprinted with the permission of the Georgia Bar Journal.

This Part 4 focuses on the “modern” False Claims Act–since the 1986 Amendments. Before considering it, please note that, in September 2007, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the “False Claims Act Correction Act,” a bill to further “modernize” the False Claims Act with substantial improvements intended to restore the Act to Congress’ original intentions. We at whistleblower lawyer blog will provide regular updates as that bill is considered by Congress.

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Part 3: False Claims Act–Background and History

This is Part 3 by whistleblower lawyer blog of a detailed explanation of the major qui tam whistleblower statutes, the federal False Claims Act and the new state False Claims Acts. It is taken from a recently published article by whistleblower lawyer blog author Michael A. Sullivan, and is reprinted with the permisssion of the Georgia Bar Journal.

The Part 3 explains the history of the False Claims Act and why effective qui tam whistleblower laws are important.

II. Background of the False Claims Act

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