Consumers Can Reap Millions From Whistleblower Lawsuits
When an individual, company, county or city commits fraud against the United States government, everyone pays. You, as a taxpayer, end up picking up the government's losses through an increase in your taxes. But individuals who know of fraud being committed against the government can put a stop to it by becoming whistleblowers.
Under the federal whistleblower law known as the False Claims Act (“FCA”), a whistleblower can bring a "Qui Tam" lawsuit against companies and individuals that are cheating the government. A Qui Tam lawsuit is an action filed by an individual on behalf of the federal government under the FCA. In the face of widespread fraud, Congress passed the FCA hoping that it would decrease fraud that results in the loss of hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in public funds. The FCA prohibits presenting any false claim for reimbursement to the United States government, either intentionally or unintentionally, and eliminates the so called hear-no-evil see-no-evil defense. Examples of whistleblower lawsuits include Medicare and Medicaid fraud, defense contractor fraud, customs fraud, bid-rigging on government projects, environmental fraud and research fraud.
As an example of an individual filing a claim under the FCA, a speech therapist in New York, Hedy M. Cirrincione, filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Jefferson County, New York, claiming that the County had improperly collected Medicaid reimbursements. As a result of Ms. Cirrincione’s whistleblower suit, the case settled for a record-breaking $540 million, with Ms. Cirrincione collecting $10 million. The settlement set a record for a recovery for the Medicaid program, and is the seventh largest whistleblower suit in history.
In another example, the pharmaceutical company Amgen has been accused by a whistleblower of engaging in illegal kickbacks to promote sales of its anemia drug Aranesp. Kassie Westmoreland, a former Amgen sales representative, filed a whistleblower suit alleging that Amgen provided free samples of Aranesp to doctors and clinics. The free samples had small extra amounts of the drug, or overfill, in each vial. The medical practices could then make a profit by billing insurers, including state Medicaid programs, for the extra drug. The lawsuit asserts that New York’s Medicaid program was defrauded of at least $1.8 million.
In yet another example, South Texas Health Systems agreed to pay $27.5 million to settle a whistleblower suit claiming that it paid kickbacks to doctors who referred patients to its hospitals. The whistleblower suit was filed by a former employee of South Texas Health Systems, Bruce Moilan, who alleged the kickbacks were disguised through sham contracts. Mr. Moilan received $5.5 million in the settlement, and the rest of the money went to state and federal taxpayers, including $2.3 million to reimburse the Texas Medicaid program.
There are even whistleblower suits that are unconventional. For example, a sharp-eyed attorney in Washington, D.C. did some investigating after spotting patent markings on the lid to his daily cup of coffee and discovered that the patent had actually expired some 20 years before. Now the lawyer is seeking millions of dollars in damages in a Qui Tam suit against the lid maker, Solo Cup. This same attorney has also filed a similar suit against razor company Gillette. The U.S. Justice Department is also supporting a Qui Tam action in a separate case filed over Brooks Brothers' expired patent claim on its "original Adjustolox" bow tie. As such, consumers should take a look at items they use regularly, and see if the item has a patent number stamped upon it. It may be that the patent has expired, in which case a whistleblower action can be filed against the manufacturer.
If you are aware of fraud being committed against the government, you may be entitled to a multi-million dollar award. You can help hardworking taxpayers from being cheated -- and earn millions of dollars in the process -- by blowing the whistle on fraud.
If you know or suspect that a business, corporation, municipality, city and/or state are defrauding the U.S. government, please contact us to aid you in an investigation and to discuss your legal options.