Whistleblower Saves American Taxpayers Millions

The False Claims Act encourages drug company employees to report illegal activities and can save taxpayers millions in fraudulent Medicaid and Medicare costs

Friday, December 22, 2017 - The False Claims Act, also called the "Lincoln Law", is a federal law that imposes liability on persons and companies (typically federal contractors) who defraud governmental programs. It is the Federal Government's primary litigation tool in combating fraud against the Government.

There have been no settlements of individual Tasigna lawsuits as of yet against Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG, however, the company was forced to settle a civil suit against them by the U.S. government and a former key employee in the amount of $390 million. Although not admitting guilt, Novartis AG settled charges against them that alleged that Novartis AG marketing representatives were overly aggressive in marketing the drug, failed to disclose critical side-effect data, overestimated the drug's effectiveness, and claimed that Tasigna was superior to other chemotherapy alternatives. The company conducted illegal sales contests and paid specialty pharmacists who sold the largest quantity of their drug. There is currently no class action lawsuit pending, however, individuals affected by atherosclerosis after taking Tasigna may sue Novartis for failing to disclose this side effect.

The U.S. government was alerted under the False Claims Act of the company's wrongdoing by Novartis sales manager-turned-whistleblower David Kester, who claimed that Novartis defrauded Medicare and Medicaid of millions of dollars by implementing a kickback scheme aimed at recommending Novartis anti-cancer drugs including Tasigna, over competing brands and generic drug alternatives. In addition to Novartis paying $390 million, the charges included two specialty pharmacies that participated in the scheme, Accredo Health and Bioscrip Corp that were ordered to pay $60 million and $15 million each. Medicaid and Medicare take a strong stance against drug marketing companies that overstep their boundaries because aggressive sales tactics can artificially increase patient demand for a drug. Doctors might, in turn, prescribe unsuitable medications or order an unnecessary medical procedure due to succumbing to the sales pressure. The case, which took just under four years to complete, found that a total of 166,000 false claims were made to Medicare and Medicaid. Plaintiffs are entitled to triple damages and a civil penalty of $5500 to $11000 for each false claim under the false claims act. Mr. Kester earned approximately 15% fee on the amount of the settlements, under the False Claims Act, encouraging others to expose corrupt and illegal company wrongdoings. Mr. Kester worked at Novartis for 18 months after contacting the government.

The pharmaceutical industry is highly scrutinized by the U.S. government because of the financial fraud that could Medicaid and Medicare and also potential harm that could do to patients whose lives depend on the medication. Whistleblowers in the pharmaceutical industry can sue their companies under the False Claims Act which hold drug company's marketing executives to the highest ethical standards. The Novartis scheme not only cost the U.S. Taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars, it also jeopardized the lives of thousands of patients suffering from Chronic Myeloid Leukemia that relied on the drug for their lives.

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Lawyers for Tasigna Atherosclerosis Lawsuits

Attorneys handling Tasigna lawsuits for leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma offer free, no-obligation case review for individuals and families who believe they may have grounds to file a Tasigna lawsuit. Working on a contingency basis, these attorneys are committed to never charging legal fees unless they win compensation in your Tasigna lawsuit. The product liability litigators handling Roundup claims at the Onder Law Firm have a strong track record of success in representing families harmed by dangerous drugs and consumer products.