Kenney & McCafferty, P.C., co-represented one of the whistleblowers in the nation’s largest nursing home pharmacy and pharmaceutical False Claims Act settlement. The Department of Justice announced on November 3, 2009, that Defendants Omnicare and IVAX Pharmaceuticals would pay a total of $112 million to settle litigation initiated by whistleblowers.
The Department of Justice alleged that Omnicare solicited and/or paid four different types of kickbacks:
* First, DOJ alleged that Omnicare solicited and received kickbacks for recommending that physicians prescribe Risperdal to nursing home patients.
* Second, DOJ alleged that Omnicare paid kickbacks to nursing homes by providing them with consultant pharmacist services at below cost rates.
* Third, DOJ alleged that Omincare solicited an $8 million kickback for purchasing $50 million in drugs from IVAX.
* Fourth, DOJ alleged that Omnicare conspired with nursing home for Omnicare to pay the nursing home chains $50 million in exchange for the nursing homes to continue using Omnicare for pharmacy services.
Kickbacks, such as these, are illegal because they subvert the medical judgment of health professionals and result in unnecessary and often, dangerous, changes in medications for the patient. Whistleblowers in the pharmaceutical industry recognized the illegal activity and filed False Claims actions. False Claims Acts allow whistleblowers to report false claims by filing a sealed complaint in court. If the whistleblower prevails, he or she gets a percentage of the recovery, and the remainder returns to the government.
Kenney & McCafferty, P.C. specializes in qui tam and tax whistleblower litigation, and its attorneys have recovered more than $2 billion for the government in False Claims Act and tax whistleblower cases. For more information, visit K&M’s website, www.quitam-lawyer.com
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