False Claims Act Investigations & Defense

Experience Highlights

• Novartis in the successful defense of a qui tam suit brought in the District of Massachusetts by multiple relators, alleging off-label and kickback claims in connection with the asthma medication Xolair®. On a motion to dismiss, we obtained dismissal with prejudice of all claims, which was affirmed by the First Circuit. Relators then filed suits in Massachusetts and New York under state FCA statutes, and we successfully obtained dismissal of those cases. 

• Fluor Corporation in persuading DOJ to decline intervention in 2018 after sprawling, multi-year protracted investigation, in a qui tam action brought by multiple relators relating to management of hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of materials on a contingency contract performed in Afghanistan.

• Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis, in securing DOJ’s declinations and winning dismissals of two FCA qui tam suits concerning Plavix® promotional activities.

• KBR in qui tam action in which, after dismissal by trial court and reversal by circuit court, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of KBR that Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act does not suspend the statute of limitations for civil fraud actions, including the FCA. The case was dismissed on remand and dismissal was affirmed on appeal in 2018.

• Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, and UCB in three federal qui tam litigations filed in Texas, Washington, and Illinois, respectively, alleging violations of the AKS and FCA through the use of nurse educator and reimbursement support services. All cases have been dismissed. After Relator refiled the cases against Eli Lilly in New Jersey and Texas state courts, we obtained dismissal of the New Jersey state case and a stay of the Texas state case.

• KBR in long-running FCA lawsuit involving KBR’s provision of essential wartime support to the U.S. Army during the early days of the war in Iraq. Won partial summary judgment in 2021, and in 2022, reached a favorable settlement with the U.S. at a fraction of DOJ’s initial damages claim with no admission of liability.

• AbbVie in a qui tam suit filed in the District of Maryland alleging price reporting claims. Obtained dismissal of all claims, which was affirmed by the Fourth Circuit on January 25, 2022, and again en banc on September 23, 2022. Following remand based on a decision by the Supreme Court, on July 23, 2024, the district court again granted our motion to dismiss. United States ex rel. Sheldon v. Forest Lab'ys, LLC, Case No. CV ELH-14-2535, 2024 WL 4544567 (D. Md. July 23, 2024)

• Fluor Corporation in winning summary judgment in 2022 on relator's FCA retaliation claim alleging that relator was included in reduction in force from Afghanistan because he made an internal report of allegedly falsified inventory records, which was affirmed on appeal. Actively litigating relator's substantive FCA in a separate action.

• Bayer and Merck in defense of a qui tam suit in the District of New Jersey alleging misbranding in connection with the antibiotic, Cipro®. Filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint in March 2021 on various grounds. On March 31, 2022, the Court granted our motion in its entirety, dismissing the case. The relator has since filed an amended complaint, and our motion to dismiss the amended complaint is pending.

• KBR in obtaining unilateral and voluntary dismissal by DOJ of FCA litigation involving a Request for Equitable Adjustment, without any settlement or making any concessions, after an evidentiary hearing in a parallel proceeding before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.