Category Archives: Qui Tam / False Claim Act

Novartis A.G., a massive pharmaceutical conglomerate, agreed today to pay $3.5M to the government to settle a False Claims/Qui Tam action. South Florida is awash in medicare fraud, but what makes this case unique is that the drug-maker is not accused of encouraging unnecessary treatment or prescriptions. Instead, Novartis continued to market a drug – an extended release version of nitrogylcerin – even after the FDA concluded that the drug was ineffective. Essentially, Novartis was engaged in false advertising to doctors, which in turn led to millions of dollars in prescriptions for a useless drug.
Under the Medicare Act, once the FDA concludes that a drug is not useful, Medicare will no longer reimburse for the prescription. But Novartis intentionally deceived the government by submitting false reports that mistated the drug’s regulatory status. (The blog is unclear about one aspect of this case — if the FDA changed the drug’s regulatory status, then how could the federal government simultanously claim that it was mislead by the drug-maker about the drug’s regulatory status?).
The whistleblower in this False Claims Act case — known as a relator — will receive $525,000 as a reward for reporting the false claims. This case reiterates the federal government’s aggressive anti-fraud efforts. (This settlement was also reached just days after the DOJ reached a similar settlement with a Boston hospital for nearly $3M)
Does your employer have a contract with the federal government or with Florida or another state or muncipality? Is it overbilling? Are the monthly invoices inflated? Contact an experienced Qui Tam lawyer as soon as possible.

For years many of my clients would tell me that their employers were defrauding the IRS or that they do not pay any taxes. Our options were limited – until now.
The IRS now has a dedicated whistleblower office in Washingon, D.C. that handles allegations of tax fraud. Any individual who reports a fraud that is worth at least $2,000,000 is entitled to a reward of up to 30% of the amount recovered by the government. For example, if you know your employer (or neighbor for that matter) has cheated the IRS out of $10,000,000, then you might be entitled to a reward of up to $3,000,000.
Contact an experienced whistleblower attorney today to learn your rights and to not lose out on your opportunity to recover a substantial reward just for doing the right thing. You should consult with a lawyer who will investigate the allegations and make the strongest argument that the employer is actually and intentionally cheating the IRS.