Phillips & Cohen has been very successful in qui tam cases against pharma companies. We have brought whistleblower cases against pharma companies for off-label marketing, kickback schemes and other Medicare and Medicaid fraud practices. Those whistleblower cases - such as our record-setting case against Pfizer Inc. -- have settled for huge sums and resulted in our clients getting hefty rewards.
Phillips & Cohen's top whistleblower cases against pharma companies:
- Pfizer paid $1.8 billion to settle a qui tam case and a related criminal fine involving the off-label marketing of Bextra, a prescription painkiller. It was the largest healthcare fraud settlement ever.
- TAP Pharmaceuticals paid $875 million to settle a qui tam case we brought, a separate qui tam lawsuit and a related criminal charge involving illegal kickbacks to doctors.
- Cephalon Inc paid $425 million to settle a criminal charge and qui tam lawsuits filed by Phillips & Cohen and two other whistleblowers involving the off-label marketing of Actiq, Gabitril and Provigil.
We also have had successful qui tam cases against other pharma companies such as Omnicare Inc., Alpharma Inc., Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Pharmaceutical companies may be liable under the False Claims Act for Medicare and Medicaid fraud in any case where the government loses money directly or indirectly. This would include practices such as:
- paying kickbacks and inducements to physicians, hospitals and pharmacists to prescribe or otherwise favor their drugs;
- engaging in off-label marketing;
- misreporting the "best price," the "federal ceiling price" or other benchmark prices that pharmaceutical companies report to the Medicare and Medicaid programs;
- overcharging for "340B" program drugs;
- manufacturing or diverting substandard or tainted drugs.
- providing false data to the Food and Drug Administration or withholding negative data from the FDA about the efficacy of a pharmaceutical drug or medical device in clinical research trials to get FDA approval to sell and market the pharmaceutical drug or medical device.
- manufacturing, selling or distributing adulterated drugs -- meaning those processes didn't meet required standards to ensure safety, quality, purity and correct strength of the drug.
Pharmacy benefits management companies also have come under increasing scrutiny as a result of qui tam lawsuits.
