Since the Supreme Court issued its False Claims Act (“FCA”) ruling in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Escobar, 136 S. Ct. 1989 (2016) courts have grappled with Escobar’s concept of FCA “materiality.” Materiality was described by the Supreme Court as a “rigorous” …
In an advisory opinion posted on August 25, 2017, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) determined that enforcement action would not be taken against a drug manufacturer’s proposal to replace products that require specialized handling that …
According to a European Medicines Agency (EMA) press release issued on August 23, 2017, the FDA, the European Commission (EC), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recently signed a new confidentiality commitment that allows the FDA to share non-public and commercially confidential information, including trade …
Just last month, we blogged about what we believe to be the first Consent Decree signed by the government and an Outsourcing Facility, shutting down operations under judicial order until certain rigorous conditions are met. Now, comes the second. Isomeric Pharmacy Solutions, LLC and three affiliated individuals …
Developing jurisprudence on FCA qui tam (whistleblower) cases, in addition to the important False Claims Act settlement discussed in a recent FDA Law Blog post (here), the First Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on July 26 in a case brought against DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., alleging false …
The Department of Justice announced on July 24, 2017, that Celgene agreed, without admitting liability, to pay a total of $280 million to settle a qui tam case relating to two of its drug products, Thalomid® and Revlimid®. The qui tam complaint filed in the …
In the almost four years since passage of Title I of the Drug Quality Security Act, (the Compounding Quality Act), FDA has inspected hundreds of pharmacies, issued numerous Form 483s and warning letters, and has requested both voluntary recalls and cessation of non-sterile and sterile …
Courts continue to wrangle over last year’s Supreme Court decision in United Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 136 S. Ct. 1989 (2016), and as reported here and here, there appeared to be an emerging trend of courts narrowing the types of False …
Our postings on the FDC Act typically focus on more straightforward applications of FDA’s regulation of the food and drug world. Drug development, patent dances, off-label promotion prosecutions, newly defined menu labeling—these are some of the many issues we associate with FDA’s activities. But since the …
On June 5th, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Kokesh v. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Court unanimously reversed the Tenth Circuit’s decision below, and ruled that a five-year statute of limitations for the enforcement of “any civil fine, penalty, or forfeiture” …
Last week, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (“TDCJ”) filed an Amended Complaint in a case initially filed against FDA in January 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. TDCJ initially challenged FDA’s delay in determining the admissibility, into domestic …
We last updated readers on the Decosters’ criminal case in January, when the Decosters timely petitioned the Supreme Court for review of the Eighth Circuit decision upholding their three-month prison sentences under the FDC Act. Last week, the government responded to that petition. As reported in …
Since the Supreme Court’s decision in United Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar, we have seen a narrowing of situations in which courts will find liability under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). A district court in Pennsylvania provided yet another example of this …
On March 22, 2017, the jury rendered its verdict in the case of the United States v. Cadden, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (jury verdict form available here). The defendant, Barry J. Cadden, was the part owner and head pharmacist at …
Some lawyers old enough to remember carbon paper may also remember, in their archaic law school teaching, the “eggshell plaintiff” rule, accurately described as “a maxim that a tort defendant takes his victim as he finds him.” Also referred to as the “eggshell skull rule,” …
