Whistleblower Law Collaborative Blog and News

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By: Whistleblower Law Collaborative, LLC

Blog Authors

Erica Blachman Hitchings
Bruce C. Judge
Linda C. Severin
Suzanne E. Durrell
Erica Hitchings
Alex Maulden
Alexandra Maulden
Robert Thomas
Robert M. Thomas Jr.
David W.S. Lieberman
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Latest from Whistleblower Law Collaborative Blog and News

A Maryland-based company has agreed to pay $550,000 to resolve claims that it deceived the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority about hand sanitizer purchased to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced the settlement yesterday. Hand Sanitizer Marketed Without Evidence of Its Effectiveness Federal Resources Supply Company marketed “Theraworx Protect” as effective in fighting the coronavirus. It claimed that the product would sanitize and fight off COVID-19 for six hours. However, the…
The Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund 20th Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony is October 28-30, 2020.  As in past years, WLC attorneys will be active participants in the Conference: as proud sponsors, as speakers on important topics, and as (virtual) attendees. As members of TAFEF, we couldn’t be more committed to combatting fraud and incentivizing integrity to protect our public funds and public health. This is especially important as whistleblowers and the False Claims Act and…
Today, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office announced that it has filed a Complaint in Intervention against CleanSlate Centers in a False Claims Act case filed by our client. CleanSlate Centers operates a chain of clinics in Massachusetts and nine other states. These clinics provide medication-assisted treatment for substance abuse, including opioid and alcohol addiction. As set forth in our Amended Complaint, CleanSlate Centers exploited the national opioid epidemic in a scheme to build and…
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts logged another victory in its battle against co-pay foundation kickback schemes.  This time pharma giant Gilead Sciences is paying up to the tune of $97 million.  The government alleged that Gilead illegally used a non-profit foundation as a conduit to pay the Medicare co-pays for its own drug. We have previously detailed why this is illegal.  We have also reported on two ongoing cases against…
The pharmaceutical company Indivior Solutions agreed to pay a total of $600 million to resolve opioid fraud charges involving the marketing its drug Suboxone.  Indivior’s parent company, Reckitt Benckiser Group, already agreed to pay $1.4 billion for the same fraud.   The $2 billion recovery is the largest-ever resolution in an opioid fraud case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. Indivior’s Outrageous Conduct Even by the standards of big pharma fraud, this case stands out. …
After a decade of teaching the popular Health Care Fraud and Abuse seminar at Boston University Law School, Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC (“WLC”) Co-Founder Bob Thomas has started an additional seminar this fall, called Whistleblower Law and Practice.  Due to the pandemic, the course is offered in hybrid format (some students live and some on ZOOM).    While there is some overlap with the Health Care Fraud and Abuse course (now taught by…
David Lieberman and Bruce Judge discussed the scourge of compounding fraud in New Jersey with The Press of Atlantic City.  The article, South Jersey prescription fraud ring follows national playbook, concerns a compounding fraud scheme targeting New Jersey state employees. We have reported on and discussed compounding fraud schemes several times on this blog. David and Bruce spoke with Press of Atlantic City staff writer Claire Lowe providing national context regarding the New Jersey…
Ethan P. Davis, the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for DOJ’s Civil Division recently described how the Civil Division will approach COVID-19 fraud enforcement. His remarks follow Senate testimony in early June by DOJ officials on the early battles against COVID-19 fraud. Mr. Davis’ extensive remarks focused on fraud in COVID-19 financial stimulus programs as well as fraud involving tests, treatments, and vaccines. Two General Principles Will Guide DOJ’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Efforts Mr. Davis…
The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office recently filed a health care fraud lawsuit against drug manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals (specifically, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., and Teva Neuroscience, Inc.).  The United States’ False Claims Act complaint alleges that Teva illegally paid over $300 million to induce prescriptions of its drug Copaxone.  The alleged scheme ran for at least nine years and involved payments to third-party foundations to cover the Medicare co-pay obligations of Copaxone patients.  As we have…
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed the criminal conviction of a Massachusetts doctor for violating HIPAA. As we have previously written in our Whistleblowers Guide to HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) establishes privacy protections for patients’ health information. “Protected health information,” or PHI, is patient-identifying information protected under HIPAA. Federal law prohibits wrongfully obtaining or disclosing PHI. Doing so is a crime. Doctor Violated HIPAA and…