ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER In a recent ruling that has implications for whistleblowers filing under the False Claims Act, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision. The ruling should lead to more whistleblowers filing qui tam lawsuits. In this case, United States ex rel. Hartpence v. Kinetic Concepts, […]

Why Protecting Whistleblowers Pays Dividends ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER At a time when businesses and governments seem more eager than ever to cover up their wrongdoings, it’s worth asking what benefit there is in strong whistleblower protections. The benefit to the whistleblower is obvious: these protections enable them to act on their […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidance this week regarding their whistleblower protections. This reinforced their stance that whistleblowers are protected against retaliation even if they report internally within their company, rather than to the agency, first. The Dodd-Frank Act, which created the SEC whistleblower program, had whistleblower […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Thanks to whistleblower George Karadsheh, a doctor who was improperly giving patients chemotherapy was stopped. Dr. Farid Fata, a Michigan doctor, was recently sentenced to 45 years in jail. According to prosecutors, Fata mistreated over 500 patients. In some cases, he was administering chemotherapy to people who did […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Two pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca and Teva Pharmaceutical’s Cephalon unit, have settled with the government after facing claims about rebates underpayment to Medicaid programs. The two companies have agreed to pay over 50 million dollars as a result of the Medicaid fraud allegations. This is one of the latest […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Securities and Exchange Commission paid out $3 million to a whistleblower who helped the commission crack a complex fraud case. The whistleblower, a company insider, received the third-highest award given by the SEC whistleblower program thus far. The whistleblower’s tip led to related actions, and gave very […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Internal Revenue Service recently released their 2014 annual report to Congress on its whistleblower program. Although awards paid by the IRS whistleblower program decreased in 2014, the agency expects to pay out more in 2015. According to the report, the IRS whistleblower program paid out 101 awards […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Department of Justice announced that a Medicare fraud case against AseraCare hospice facilities will start August 3, after a half-dozen employees filed whistleblower cases under the False Claims Act. The company could owe up to $202 million. The whistleblowers, and the Department of Justice, which elected to […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Fraud investigation and enforcement activity against healthcare providers has been increasing, as the government uses the False Claims Act to pursue whistleblowers’ claims of fraud and abuse. This has been particularly evident with long-term care providers. The False Claims Act, sometimes referred to as the Lincoln Law, was […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Since the inception of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program when the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law in 2010, the SEC has done what it takes to make the program successful. In addition to awarding payments of over $50 million […]