Sheridan & Murray

$2

Qui Tam / Federal Fraud / Off-Label Marketing

Johnson & Johnson has agreed for its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals to plead guilty to criminal charges and Johnson & Johnson will pay $2.2 Billion to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from their unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs. The global resolution is one of the largest health care fraud settlements in U.S. history, including criminal fines and forfeiture totaling $485 million and civil settlements with the federal government and states totaling $1.72 Billion. The government’s case against Johnson & Johnson and Janssen was based partly on a qui tam lawsuit filed by attorney Thomas W. Sheridan of the law firm of Sheridan and Murray, LLC on behalf of a former marketing manager at Janssen. The lawsuit filed by Sheridan provided the government with information relating to a range of improper marketing practices on the part of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen relating to the drug Risperdal from 1999 through 2005 and the drug Invega from 2007 through 2009. Johnson & Johnson/Janssen promoted the sale and use of its drug Risperdal for individuals and specific conditions for which it was not approved as safe and effective by the FDA. Johnson & Johnson/Janssen improperly promoted the sale and use of Risperdal for behavioral disturbances in elderly dementia patients, children and adolescents, and individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The lawsuit also provided information regarding Johnson & Johnson/Janssen’s illegal payments to health care professionals and long-term pharmacy care providers to improperly promote and prescribe Risperdal in violation of the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

$145

Qui Tam / Healthcare Fraud

Life Care Centers of America, Inc., a private nursing home company, settled a qui tam lawsuit by agreeing to pay $145 million to the government and whistleblowers. The consolidated lawsuit alleged that from January 2006 until February 2013, Life Care billed Medicare and TRICARE for therapy given to patients who didn’t need it or were ineligible. The case set a precedent by allowing statistical sampling to prove fraud.

$44

Personal Injury / Oilfield Accident

A $44 million dollar settlement was successfully negotiated with five (5) companies on behalf of our clients for a paralyzed oilfield employee.

$35

Qui Tam / Healthcare Fraud / Off-Label Marketing

Qui tam lawsuit alleging that Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation pushed off-label uses of its eczema medication Elidel for patients under two years old, despite studies indicating potential risks of skin cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The company also allegedly provided kickbacks to doctors. The whistleblower, Donald Galmines, a former Novartis sales rep, pursued the case under the False Claims Act, resulting in a settlement of over $35 million.

$33

Qui Tam / Healthcare Fraud

Qui tam lawsuit against Vibra Healthcare LLC, a nursing home company, for defrauding the U.S. government by billing Medicare for unnecessary services between 2006 and 2013. Vibra allegedly sent patients to long-term care hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities without medical necessity and kept them longer than needed. The whistleblower, Sylvia Daniel, a health information coder, received $4 million of the recovered funds.

$10

Qui Tam / Healthcare Fraud

New York radiology group Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology agreed to pay over $10 million in civil damages and criminal restitution for Medicare and Medicaid fraud between 2008 and 2014. Fraudulent acts included billing for unnecessary radiology services and claiming procedures were performed by enrolled providers when they were done by unenrolled ones. Whistleblowers Linda Gibb and Donna Geraci, former employees, filed the lawsuit after their concerns about fraud were ignored.