Salesman to collect millions in whistleblower lawsuit

The U.S. False Claims Act has made a salesman a millionaire while reaping a large reimbursement for the U.S. Government. Among the recent - and burgeoning -- whistleblower cases is that of Boston Scientific's Guidant LLC unit, which agreed to pay $9.25 million to settle a claim that it overbilled the government and private hospitals for heart pacemakers and defibrillators. The lawsuit was filed

Nurses to share $8M whistleblower reward

A major supplier of medical beds will not have to admit wrongdoing but will pay $41.8 million in a settlement of allegations that it submitted repeated false claims about the need for Medicare-paid equipment. The settlement ended a six-year legal battle by the federal government against Indiana-based Hill-Rom Co. Inc. The case was filed in Tennessee, where prosecutors alleged Hill-Rom from 1999-

Whistleblower lawsuits nets $199.5M

Oracle Corp. will pay the largest False Claims Act settlement ever collected by the federal General Services Administration -- $199.5 million plus interest. The payment will be made following allegations that the software manufacturer failed to meet its contractual obligation in a 1998 agreement with GSA for software licenses and technical support to government entities through the agency's

Demoted worker wins whistleblower lawsuit

Mark Holmes didn't win a huge award in his whistleblower case but, as the Naples (Florida) News put it, "it sure beats cleaning toilets." Holmes, a Collier County EMS Medflight pilot, was awarded $70,000 by a federal jury on his claim that he was demoted to latrine and other menial duties after complaining to county officials about workplace safety, maintenance and management in 2007. He alleged

Whistleblower program expanded by SEC

The path for whistleblowers to help the government expose fraud and misconduct continues to widen. A recent action by federal regulators makes tipsters eligible to receive rewards if they give the Securities and Exchange Commission information leading to more than $1 million in penalties against offenders. The SEC would pay whistleblowers up to 30 percent of recovered funds. The commission was

Whistleblower wins settlement from med-tech firm

A medical technology company has agreed to pay the federal government $16 million to resolve a whistleblower lawsuit. Minnesota-based St. Jude Medical Inc. had allegedly paid kickbacks to doctors who enrolled patients in post-market studies that were really a way to induce the doctors to use the company's products. It was charged that the company paid participating physicians as much as $2,000

Phone company settles whistblower suit

Verizon Communications Inc. has written a big check to the federal government -- $93.5 million. That sum was announced as a settlement to resolve allegations which arose in a whistleblower lawsuit against the nation's second-largest phone company. The qui tam suit alleged that Verizon overcharged the U.S. General Services Administration by submitting false claims for reimbursement of property

Whistleblower lawsuit finally won

It took more than a dozen years, but a former Texas deputy constable has finally gotten justice. Armando Gonzales, now 71 years old, was fired from his job after he reported alleged bribery involving his boss and testified against him before a grand jury. After losing his job, Gonzales filed a whistleblower lawsuit. The case dragged on for many years, costing Dallas County an estimated $1.2

Drug Co. to pay $203M in whistleblower case

Elan Corporation PLC has agreed to pay more than $203 million for the alleged illegal promotion of its epilepsy drug Zonegran. The U.S. Justice Department said the Irish drug manufacturer agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor for allegedly promoting Zonegran for improper uses, including mood stabilization, migraine headaches, eating disorders and weight loss. The U.S. Food and Drug

Auditor gets $23M whistlebower reward

It was almost seven years ago that a federal employee alleged that Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas had cheated the government out of millions of dollars in royalties. Bobby Maxwell, a government auditor claimed that the company was vastly underpaying royalties on 57 oil leases it held with the government. Recently, a federal judge ordered Kerr-McGee to pay nearly $23 million in penalties, or treble

Worker blows the whistle on safety problems

A Michigan City, Indiana, public sanitary worker was fired from his government job after he reported worker safety violations and also told authorities about unreported cases of overflowing sewers. So Ron Meer went to the state attorney general and the Indiana labor commissioner to complain about his firing. They in turn sued the city for violating the state whistleblower law. Said Indiana

Whistleblower catches Medicaid cheating, reaps reward

An accountant is expected to reap a large reward for blowing the whistle on a company that provided prescription drugs for thousands of Medicaid patients in Michigan nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities. According to authorities in that state, Specialized Pharmacy Services, owned by Omnicare, was charging patients covered by Medicaid more than those who had private health insurance

Novartis whistleblowers get big reward

Two former salesmen with Novartis will share $20.2 million. The huge sum is not a commission or bonus for their work on behalf of Novartis but for blowing the whistle on the drug company's improper practices, specifically for its marketing of the anti-epilepsy drug Trileptal for unapproved "off-label" uses. Novartis recently agreed to plead guilty and pay $422.5 million in fines and penalties,

Whistleblower to reap $96M reward

A former employee who blew the whistle on GlaxoSmithKline will get a $96 million reward for exposing the company's sales of contaminated products. Cheryl Eckard was once Glaxo's quality manager, but she was fired after warning superiors of problems with various products. Eckard filed a whistleblower suit in 2004 against Glaxo, accusing the drug firm of selling tainted products under false

Whistleblower lawsuit nets $2.4M civilian reward

Allen Davis was working as a quality assurance manager at Northrop Grumman Corp. in Salt Lake City when he noticed what he thought was neglect in testing certain electronic parts used in navigation systems for U.S. military planes, helicopters and spacecraft. He blew the whistle on the company. In 2006 he filed a lawsuit on the government's behalf as allowed under the federal False Claims Act.

Pfizer lab worker wins $1.37 M in whistleblower lawsuit

Ever see photos of lab technicians working with bacteria and viruses and wonder if they ever get exposed? It happened several years ago to Becky McClain, who worked for Pfizer in Connecticut. She claimed that a genetically engineered AIDS-like virus had infected her after a co-worker failed to use proper containment, adversely affecting her health. McClain refused to return to work and was fired