Last week WLC member Suzanne Durrell discussed compliance whistleblowers at the 25th Annual Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) Compliance Institute. The panel was titled “Whistleblowers: Who are They and Why do they Become Whistleblowers and How Do You Evaluate a Whistleblower Case?” More than 12,000 healthcare compliance members who work in, with, or in support of healthcare organizations comprise the HCCA. Its annual Compliance Institute addresses real‑world compliance issues, emerging trends, and practical applications…

In April, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay $75 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it knowingly underpaid rebates owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.  The government did not intervene and take over the lawsuit. Therefore, the government will pay between 25% and 30% of the settlement to the whistleblower. Bristol-Myers Squibb Misreported its Average Manufacturer Price We have a full…

Effective, March 16, 2021, Washington D.C. expanded its False Claims Act to repeal the tax bar and cover tax fraud.  This expanded law will enlist whistleblowers in the fight to uncover major tax cheats, recover unpaid taxes, and close the tax gap. What is the Tax Bar The tax bar is part of the False Claims Act which says it does not cover fraud under the tax code. The tax bar is found at…

The Whistleblower Law Collaborative’s Erica Blachman Hitchings was a proud ​presenter at this week’s False Claims Act Today – District of Massachusetts ​seminar hosted by the Federal Bar Association’s Qui Tam Section on Monday, April 12, 2021 in cooperation with the local FBA chapter. “The False Claims Act Today” is part of an ongoing discussion series that examines the details of real-life FCA practice in specific jurisdictions.  Erica spoke about how her career as a…

One of the more astute things I learned from an experienced lawyer as I was coming out of law school three and a half decades ago was this:  It’s much more interesting and revealing to look at what people are doing five to ten years after graduation than what they do right out of the gate.  What he meant was that people’s first choices often reflect how much debt they’re trying to pay off, or a first poorly-informed guess…

One of the more astute things I learned from an experienced lawyer as I was coming out of law school three and a half decades ago was this:  It’s much more interesting and revealing to look at what people are doing five to ten years after graduation that what they do right out of the gate.  What he meant was that people’s first choices often reflect how much debt they’re trying to pay off, or a first poorly-informed guess at…

Erica Blachman Hitchings discussed the recently disclosed breach of the federal court system’s electronic filing system with AP News Legal Affairs Reporter, Maryclaire Dale.  The article, Russian hack brings changes, uncertainty to US court system, takes stock of the intrusion’s impact on existing and future cases.  Dale reports that the hackers likely gained access to a wide range of confidential information in sealed documents, “including trade secrets, espionage targets, whistleblower reports and arrest warrants.”…