Should Drugmakers Be Allowed to Get Kickbacks?

I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s question comes from a caller inquiring about their rights concerning being a whistleblower. They had heard about how a pharmaceutical company recently agreed to pay $6 million to settle allegations it misused free genetic tests and test result data to boost prescriptions of its drug designed to treat genetically linked disease.

The fine was imposed over claims the company paid for free genetic tests for patients and then purchased the test results for marketing purposes, potentially influencing doctors and patients towards prescribing and taking a drug sold by the company.

This allegedly violated the False Claims Act. A whistleblower who originally filed the case will receive $1.07 million from the settlement, while the rest goes to Medicare, Medicaid, and state Medicaid programs.

In the past we have blogged about how whistleblowers benefit in such circumstances.

Whistleblowers can play a role in going after companies engaged in defrauding taxpayers through waste and deceptive practices.

The Federal Civil False Claims Act basically allows ordinary private citizens to act as attorney generals and file lawsuits on behalf of the United States government. A citizen whistleblower can help recover losses to the government, including losses resulting from government contractor fraud.

Such whistleblower actions are filed by what’s called “qui tam relators,” individuals who bring suit under the FCA on behalf of the United States. The term “qui tam” derives from Latin and refers to “suing for the sovereign and for himself.”

If you have direct personal knowledge of fraud against the United States government, at your company, university or even at another business or university, you may be entitled to collect a reward of 15-30% of the total amount of the fraudulent billings recovered by the government.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”