Legal Blog
The CFTC Encourages Whistleblowers to Report Information Involving Commodities Fraud
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) may not be as familiar as it's more well known counterpart, the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the agency nonetheless serves an equally vital function by ensuring stability and confidence in...
TEVA Agrees to Pay $54 Million to Settle McEldrew Young False Claims Act Qui Tam Whistleblower Lawsuit
Attorney Eric. L. Young announced today that Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Teva Neuroscience, Inc., and Teva Sales and Marketing, Inc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as "TEVA") have settled allegations in a qui tam complaint filed by McEldrew Young,...
Retina Institute Settles with Government for $6.65 Million Over Allegations of False Claims Act Violations
On October 2, 2019, Retina Institute of California Medical Group (RIC), along with its former CEO and several physicians, agreed to pay $6.65 million to resolve allegations of False Claims Act violations. RIC is a medical partnership of ophthalmologists with multiple...
DOJ Aggressively Pursues Health Care Fraud in 2019
In the first half of 2019, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has shown that it intends to aggressively pursue health care providers who engage in fraudulent schemes to enrich themselves at the expense of their patients and American taxpayers. The DOJ has...
Young Law Group Whistleblower Lawsuit Against INSYS Results in $225 Million Settlement of Allegations Involving Opioid Sales and Marketing Abuses
INSYS Agrees to Global Resolution of Claims Arising from Separate DOJ Criminal and Civil Investigations The Department of Justice announced that INSYS Therapeutics, Inc. (“INSYS”) has agreed to pay $225 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks and engaged...
The DNA of Medicare Fraud & the False Claims Act
Genetic Testing Laboratory Pays $2 Million to Settle Allegations of Medicare Fraud The Justice Department announced a settlement last month with GenomeDx Biosciences Corp. (“GenomeDx”), a genetic testing laboratory based in Vancouver, British Columbia with offices in...
Southern District of New York Federal Court Greenlights Young Law Group’s False Claim Act Case Against Teva Pharmaceuticals for Trial Involving Allegations of Nationwide Kickback Scheme
Chief U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled on February 27th that a False Claims Act suit brought by two former employees of Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. will proceed to a trial on the merits. In a detailed seventy-page opinion, the Court rejected numerous...
The High Price of Attempted Whistleblower Retaliation
Barclays fined $15 Million for CEO’s Attempt to Identify Whistleblowers The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued a press release this past December announcing a $15 million penalty against Barclays Bank PLC for violations of New York state banking...
5G Cancer Risks: Asbestos of a New Generation?
The next generation of cell phone technology could pose serious cancer risks to the public You have probably already heard about 5G and the plans to roll out the new technology over the next two years. 5G is the new fifth-generation wireless broadband technology that...
Pharmacy and Drug Fraud: A Prescription for Imprisonment and Big Fines
A number of civil settlements and criminal convictions involving pharmacy and drug fraud in 2018 have highlighted a longstanding problem that imperils patient health and burdens American taxpayers with costs measured annually in the millions of dollars. Pharmacy and...
New Tariffs Create Greater Incentives for Customs Fraud
Domestic importers are paying record amounts in customs duties due to a recent surge in the number of new tariffs, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. In October, American companies paid $6.2 billion in duties, including $2.8 billion in new...
Electronic Health Records: A Prognosis for Missteps and Potential Fraud
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the Department of Veterans Affairs is in discussions with Apple to provide portable electronic health records (“EHRs”) to military veterans. The plan reportedly calls for Apple to develop specialized software tools that...
Sobering News of Fraud in the Addiction Treatment Industry
The opioid epidemic has exacted an immeasurable cost on our country in both human and financial costs. It has also given rise to a new type of health care scam in America - addiction treatment fraud. Unscrupulous operators of drug treatment centers and sober homes are...
Do Drug and Healthcare Ads Push Ethical Boundaries?
In the past four years, pharmaceutical companies have more than doubled their ad spending, making it the second-fastest growing ad category in the nation. Other healthcare providers, from local hospitals to nationally known cancer treatment centers, are also...
Behind the Opioid Epidemic
The United States Department of Justice and numerous state governments have intervened in numerous qui tam whistleblower suits, including one brought by Philadelphia based law firm Young Law Group against INSYS Therapeutics, Inc. [1]. The suit alleges, among other...
Key Whistleblower Changes in Bipartisan Budget Act
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, passed overnight and signed this morning by President Trump to end the second federal government shutdown of this year, includes two key provisions for whistleblowers previously introduced by Senator Charles Grassley but removed from...
CFTC Issues Record $30 Million Fine for Spoofing to Deutsche Bank
The CFTC announced enforcement actions against three banks and six individuals for spoofing at the end of January. The three banks, Deutsche Bank, UBS, and HSBC, were charged with spoofing in precious metals futures contracts trading on the Commodity Exchange, Inc....
False Claims Act Whistleblowers Paid $392 Million in Fiscal Year 2017
The Department of Justice recovered more then $3.7 billion in settlements and judgments in Fiscal Year 2017 from the False Claims Act according to the press release issued last week. The majority of the funds recovered were in lawsuits initiated by whistleblowers. Qui...
Collected Proceeds Clarification for IRS Whistleblowers Dropped from Tax Bill
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the reconciliation of the tax legislation has dropped the definition of collected proceeds for the IRS whistleblower program introduced into the Senate version that passed. The amendment was added by Senator Chuck...
Latest Settlement Reveals Mortgage Fraud Continued Years After Financial Crisis Ended
We are reaching the end of a decade since mortgage fraud hit its peak in 2007. However, the latest settlement by IberiaBank suggests that at least one lender continued aspects of mortgage fraud against the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) well after becoming...