In United States v. Stein, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss charges against former employees of KPMG on the basis that the prosecutors interfered with the employees’ constitutional right to counsel. Ex-employees of …
According to the Associated Press, a federal court has sentenced Steven Warshak, founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, to 25 years in prison for crimes including mail fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and money laundering. In addition, Warshak and other defendants must forfeit money and assets …
On August 8, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion in an appeal from a conviction under, among other provisions, the criminal provisions of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (“FDC Act”). A jury convicted Eric Goldberg of …
A recent Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) action serves as a reminder that the agency takes seriously cases referred to it by the National Advertising Division of the Council of the Better Business Bureaus (“NAD”). In a press release issued earlier this week, the FTC announced …
The latest FDLI Update article by Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.’ s Gwendolyn M. McKee and John R. Fleder discusses the potential consequences to company executives and companies of submitting false information to a government agency, even when the submission is not made under oath. …
As widely reported earlier this month, FDA and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) intensified their investigation of Indian drug company Ranbaxy, Inc. On July 3, 2008, the government moved to enforce administrative subpoenas directed at Ranbaxy and the company’s consultant, PAREXEL Consulting concerning information about …
In a case involving a highly unusual set of facts for FDA-regulated companies, Leiner Health Products, Inc. (Leiner) is seeking to have a plea agreement approved by a Bankruptcy court. The case involves violations of Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) for over-the-counter drugs. What also …
The latest issue of the Food and Drug Law Institute’s “Update” magazine features articles written by three Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. attorneys. The first article, titled “FDA Moves Against Marketed Unapproved Human Drugs,” was written by Susan J. Matthees and John R. Fleder and …
On May 1, 2008, a federal judge in the Middle District of Florida brought some measure of closure to FDA’s more than six years of attempts to regulate a self-identified custom device manufacturer. In his May 1st order, Judge G. Kendall Sharp mostly sided with …
As we previously reported (see post here and article here), FDA has been seeking stiffer sentences under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines for at least the past five years. For the preceding four years, the FDA’s pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, but in this …
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A, did not protect a former employee of Wyeth who alleged that he was fired for complaining to Wyeth management about …
The latest FDLI Update article by Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.’s Riëtte van Laack and John R. Fleder discusses a recent court ruling showing the potential perils faced by a company and its officers who aggressively defend their position. In United States v. Kaminski, the …
On February 27, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a decision in United States v. Caputo, in which the court generally affirmed a “complex and unusual” district court decision holding criminally liable a corporate Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and, remarkably, …
Over the past several weeks, FDA Law Blog has closely followed issues concerning the United States Sentencing Commission’s proposed changes to the Sentencing Guidelines that are applicable to certain FDA criminal offenses. In our most recent post, we reported on a February 13, 2008 public …
Last week, FDA announced a consent decree of permanent injunction had been entered into with two food companies – Brownwood Acres Foods, Inc. and Cherry Capital Services, Inc. (doing business as Flavonoid Services) – and their top executives, prohibiting them from making unauthorized drug and …
