The Federal Government and Several States Are Going After Pharmaceutical Companies That Fraudulently Market and Target Medicaid, Medicare, and Public Health Programs by Drug Company Marketing Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, Pharmaceutical Professional Whistleblower Lawyer, Drug Company Whistleblower Medicaid Fraud Lawyer, & Drug Company Whistleblower Illegal Kickback Lawyer

The Federal Government and Several States Are Going After Pharmaceutical Companies That Fraudulently Market and Target Medicaid, Medicare, and Public Health Programs by Drug Company Marketing Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, Pharmaceutical Professional Whistleblower Lawyer, Drug Company Whistleblower Medicaid Fraud Lawyer, & Drug Company Whistleblower Illegal Kickback Lawyer

The United States Department of Justices, Texas Attorney General, and state attorney general offices from several other states are working with Drug Company Professionals on Marketing Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits and have begun enforcing new Medicaid fraud whistleblower recovery laws to help clean up corruption and health care fraud.  Through these new whistleblower laws and with information provided by drug company professionals through drug company whistleblower Medicaid fraud lawyers, these Medicaid fraud whistleblowers, the Department of Justices, drug company whistleblower Medicaid fraud lawyers, and state attorney generals are making large recoveries from drug companies, pharmacies, and other health care providers that have been systematically defrauding state Medicaid programs, Medicare, and other public health care programs.

USDOJ: Abbott Labs to Pay $1.5 Billion to Resolve Criminal & Civil Investigations of Off-label Promotion of Depakote

Global Health Care Company Abbott Laboratories Inc. has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of the prescription drug Depakote for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today.  The resolution – the second largest payment by a drug company – includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $700 million and civil settlements with the federal government and the states totaling $800 million.  Abbott also will be subject to court-supervised probation and reporting obligations for Abbott’s CEO and Board of Directors.

The Federal Government and Several States Including Texas Are Making Large Recoveries Through Medicaid Drug Marketing Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits and Medicaid Drug Price Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits by Drug Company Marketing Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, Pharmaceutical Professional Whistleblower Lawyer, Drug Company Whistleblower Medicaid Fraud Lawyer, & Drug Company Whistleblower Illegal Kickback Lawyer

In January 2012, the State of Texas and a Medicaid drug marketing fraud  whistleblower squared off against Johnson and Johnson, Inc. and several related companies in Travis County District Court.  In the case, the State of Texas alleged that the large drug company systematically targeted the Texas Medicaid System and fraudulently misrepresented their drug, Risperdal, with false and misleading marketing information.  Further, that the defendants intentionally targeted opinion leaders in the medical community with financial incentives and misleading information in an effort to have the drug placed into treatment guidelines, model state treatment programs, formularies, Texas Vendor Drug Programs, and the Texas Medicaid preferred drug lists.

Attorneys for the State of Texas and Medicaid Marketing Fraud Whistleblower argued that they had reviewed millions of documents and could prove that the large drug company intentionally pushed Risperdal as a safer alternative to the typical medications despite rulings from the Food and Drug Administration that these assertions were not supported by scientific research.  Further, that the defendants orchestrated a fraudulent marketing scheme to seed medical literature with misleading information and influence key medical decision makers to increase Risperdal in the Texas Medicaid Program as well as used this information to push their drug as the established treatment in state Medicaid programs throughout the United States as well as in the Federal Medicare program.

As a result of this Texas lawsuit, the drug maker, Johnson and Johnson, Inc., agreed to settle the Texas Medicaid fraud case for $158 million.  Johnson and Johnson, Inc. has also agreed to a settlement where the drug company will will pay more than $1 billion in civil and criminal penalties to the federal government and individual states to settle an investigation into the marketing practices of its anti-psychotic drug Risperdal.  Johnson and Johnson, Inc. has also been hit in Medicaid fraud cases in South Carolina and Louisiana and was ordered to pay more than $250 million each.