Since 1987, the government has recovered $30,315,593,792 on behalf of the United States taxpayer.  This huge sum of money is remarkable. In 2011 alone, over 3 billion dollars have been recovered in either settlements or judgments from both qui-tam and non-qui-tam cases.  Although fraud is unfortunately (and obviously) rampant, it is inspiring that every day citizens have aided so significantly in the retrieval process.

This year, 762 new fraud matters were brought to the government.    The DOJ has recorded 12,132 new fraud matters since 1987.   Over 60% of these cases have been filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. This means that over 7,000 courageous individuals have taken action and blown the whistle on fraudulent activities since the late eighties.

As their share awards, whistleblowers received over 500 million dollars in this year alone:  the most money ever paid to whistleblowers in a single year.  And whistleblowers have received about $3.4 billion in awards since 1987.  It is particularly gratifying to see whistleblowers compensated for their efforts due to the dedication and commitment they put into these cases, and that the total amount of money awarded to them continues to increase.

2012 has already started off strong with new cases being reported every day.  If you know about fraud being committed, help stop it by contacting the experienced qui tam attorneys at Tycko & Zavareei today.

Happy New Year!

Maersk was hired by the Department of Defense to transport thousands of containers from ports to destinations in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan as a part of the war effort in support of US troops in those areas.  According to the allegations, Maersk actively overcharged the government for these services by inflating and tampering with its invoices in numerous ways.  Although all fraud is deceitful and wrong, it is especially appalling that a company like Maersk took advantage of the government’s efforts to support the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.  We are hopeful that settlements like this one will discourage fraud against our armed services in the future.

Jerry H. Brown II, a former industry insider and the whistleblower in this case, began the lawsuit against Maersk by filing a complaint against the company under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Under these provisions, private citizens can file lawsuits on behalf of the government and receive a share of the recovery if the case is successful.  As his portion of the settlement, Mr. Brown will be receiving $3.6 million.  Mr. Brown has done a commendable service on behalf of American taxpayers, the US government, and most importantly on behalf of the US military.

To learn more about defense contractor fraud and other types of fraud, visit our website at http://www.fraudfighters.net/.

Amersham was accused of submitting false claims to Medicare between 2000 and 2003 over a radiopharmaceutical called Myoview, which is used in the cardiology field.  Due to these alleged false claims, Medicare paid inflated rates for Myoview.  Additionally, Amersham was accused of tampering with Myoview in order to increase the number of doses available per vial, thus leading to additional price inflation.  It is selfish and wrong for healthcare companies to take advantage of the Medicare system and of taxpayers’ hard earned dollars through fraud and abuse.  Settlements like this one help to retrieve some money for the American people and will hopefully discourage companies thinking about cheating Government healthcare programs.

Amersham’s allegedly deceitful actions were brought to the attention of the Government by James Wagel.  Under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, Mr. Wagel helped to begin this six year investigation that ultimately resulted in a substantial recovery by the Government.  Mr. Wagel will receive $5.1 million as his relator’s share from the settlement.

Since 2009, the US Government has recovered over $8.6 billion from fraud cases; however, fraud is still happening daily around us.  If you know of fraud being committed, take efforts to stop it by contacting the experienced attorneys at Tycko & Zavareei today!

CVS Caremark was accused of defrauding the states’ prescription drug plans by reselling returned drugs, changing prescription orders to make them more expensive, and submitting false reports about the timing of filling prescriptions in order to avoid paying fees to the state.

The qui tam lawsuits were spearheaded by two former Caremark Florida pharmacists, Michael and Peppi Fowler, who informed the states about CVS Caremark’s alleged misconduct.  State and local governments have suffered immensely as a result of the recession and have had to make drastic cuts to try to balance their budgets.  The last thing these entities can afford is the loss of government funds due to fraud.  Brave whistleblowers such as the Fowlers play an essential role in preventing fraud against state and local governments.

For more information on pharmaceutical fraud, fraud against state and local governments, and what you can do to stop this unlawful activity, please visit our website at http://www.fraudfighters.net/.

According to the allegations, Medtronic paid between $1,000 and $2,000 to physicians in order to persuade them to implant the company’s pacemakers and defibrillators – rather than competitors’ devices – into Medicare and Medicaid patients.  The Government accused Medtronic of submitting false claims to Medicare and Medicaid by offering doctors these kickbacks under the guise of post-market studies and device registries.

The settlement resolves similar accusations brought against the company in two separate qui tam lawsuits – one in Minnesota and the other in California.  As a part of the settlement, the four whistleblowers in the two cases will receive over $3.96 million in payments as their share of the federal recovery.  These brave individuals have done a commendable service for this country.  They stood up for American taxpayers and exposed waste and fraud on our healthcare system.   To learn more about how every day citizens like these whistleblowers were able to stop Medtronic, go to http://www.fraudfighters.net.

The two drugs were Nitroglycerin ER and Hyoscyamine ER.  In the 1990s, the FDA determined that these drugs would not qualify for reimbursements by government healthcare programs.  According to the lawsuit, Ethex failed to mention this crucial information to the CMS, which resulted in false claims being submitted for the drugs.  Under the terms of the settlement, KV will pay approximately $10.2 million to the federal government and approximately $6.8 million to the state Medicaid program.

The whistleblower in this case was Constance Conrad.  She will be receiving $1,523,804 from the federal share of the settlement.  She will also receive an additional undetermined sum of money from the state share.  Her will to take action under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act is impressive and commendable.  If you believe that you have information regarding healthcare fraud or other types of fraud, contact experienced qui tam attorneys at www.fraudfighters.net.

According to the fraud allegations, Merck was accused of making deceptive and inaccurate statements about the cardiovascular safety of Vioxx in order to increase sales.  Additionally, based on these alleged false statements to Medicaid agencies, Merck was accused of influencing the payment decisions of the government for the drug.  Finally, Merck was accused of making false claims about the use of Vioxx for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.  Merck has agreed to pay the government and participating Medicaid states approximately $630 million to settle these allegations.

Like the civil settlement, Merck’s criminal plea also relates to the misbranding of Vioxx to treat rheumatoid arthritis.  According to the charges, Merck was promoting Vioxx as a RH painkiller before the drug was approved as such.  Under the terms of the settlement, Merck will plead guilty to these charges and will pay an approximately $320 million criminal fine.

Merck is the latest pharmaceutical company to pay large sums to settle various healthcare fraud accusations.  Some other recent settlements have been paid by GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly & Co., and AstraZeneca.  If you know about healthcare fraud, you can help the government recover even more money from these organizations that abuse the healthcare system.  Contact qui tam attorneys today: http://www.fraudfighters.net/contact/.

The SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower was established earlier this year, and the SEC’s regulations concerning whistleblower claims went into effect on August 12, 2011.  Accordingly, the 2011 Annual Report is based upon only a short time-frame.  Indeed, because the SEC’s fiscal year ended on September 30, 2011, the Annual Report includes data on only seven weeks of activity.

But even those seven weeks of activity are very revealing.  In those seven weeks, the Office of the Whistleblower received 334 whistleblower tips.  By my calculation, that means the Office was receiving an average of 9 ½ tips per day.  I suspect that a lot of whistleblowers, and their attorneys, were waiting for the August 12 to roll around before submitting their tips, and that the Office received an initial wave of tips in the first week or two after August 12.  So, this number is probably a bit inflated, if you look at it as a prediction of the “tips per day” rate on a going-forward basis.  My own highly unscientific hunch, based on this data, is that the SEC Office of the Whistleblower is probably now getting an average of around 7 to 8 tips per day.  Projected out over a full year, this means that the SEC will be receiving approximately 2,000 whistleblower tips per year through the Office of Whistleblower.

The Annual Report breaks down the 334 whistleblower tips into categories.  Here’s that breakdown:

Manipulation (using fraud to manipulate the price of securities) – 16.2%

Offering fraud (fraud in connection with IPO or other offering statements) – 15.6%

Trading and pricing fraud – 5.1%

Insider trading – 7.5%

Fraud in corporate disclosures and financial statements – 15.3%

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations – 3.9%

Fraud in connection with municipal securities and public pensions – 2.7%

Unregistered offerings – 5.4%

Market events – 3.3%

Other, or no category – 25.2%

The SEC has not yet made any whistleblower awards, which is not surprising given that the award program is still in its infancy.  But the good news is that the SEC is sitting on an enormous war chest of award money.  The Annual Report states that the fund that is set aside to pay whistleblower rewards currently has more than $452 million.

What does all of this mean for someone thinking about blowing the whistle on either a securities law violation, or a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violation?  Two things come to mind.  First, the Office of Whistleblower will be processing a very large volume of whistleblower tips, and making your tip “rise to the top” will be crucial in assuring that the SEC aggressively pursues an investigation of your tip.  So, the way in which your tip is presented will make a huge difference.  If you want to get the SEC’s attention, your information needs to be presented to the Office of Whistleblower on a silver platter:  well organized, well thought-out, and persuasively explained.

Second, if you can get over that first hurdle, and if the SEC opens a real investigation into your tip, then the awards should be quite substantial.  The SEC has the funds to pay big awards, and will be under significant political pressure to do so in the near future to justify the whistleblower program.

If you have information about a securities law violation, or a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, you should consider consulting a whistleblower attorney who can help you make the best possible presentation to the SEC Office of the Whistleblower, and who know how to protect your interests as the whistleblower.  The lawyers at Tycko & Zavareei LLP, based in Washington, D.C., are well positioned to provide this type of assistance, and offer no-fee, no-commitment initial consultations.

New York City has agreed to pay $70 million to settle these allegations and has actively admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement agreement.  Finally, the City has agreed to implement better practices in order to be sure to comply with New York State regulations regarding personal care services in the future.

Dr. Gabriel Ethan Feldman was the determined whistleblower in this qui tam case.  Feldman is a double-board certified physician and a fellow of the American College of Preventative Medicine with Master’s degrees in Business, Public Health, and Health Administration.  He continually tried to raise public awareness surrounding New York City’s abuse of PCS, and finally filed his case in 2009.  Feldman will be receiving $14.7 million as his reward for bringing the City’s fraud to the attention of the Government.

If you know about fraud or are considering blowing the whistle on Medicare fraud or Medicaid fraud being committed and want to speak with an attorney about your options, contact the qui tam attorneys at Tycko & Zavareei for a free initial consultation.  For more information, visit our website at www.fraudfighters.net.

Some of the alleged misconduct under investigation includes marketing drugs for off-label treatments that had not been approved by the Government.  Specifically, the Government was looking into whether the company had engaged in off-label marking in connection with GSK’s asthma medicine Advair and its diabetes drug Avandia.  The Government was also investigating potential Medicaid reimbursement fraud and fraud respecting the development of Avandia, which has been linked to increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Although the $3 billion settlement seems like a hefty fine, GSK had more than enough cash on hand to pay it.  Indeed, the company’s stock rose after the news of the settlement broke.  This highlights the need for the Government to take an even tougher stance with these large pharmaceutical companies, whose profits are so vast that even a settlement of this magnitude is unlikely to have any meaningful impact on these companies’ bottom lines or their conduct.

To learn more about potential healthcare fraud schemes and what you can do to fight against them, please visit our website at www.fraudfighters.net.