Grant & Eisenhofer Represents Key Whistleblower in Justice Dept.'s $1.04 Billion Civil Settlement with GlaxoSmithKline

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• Langue: English

Extrait

Grant & Eisenhofer Represents Key

Whistleblower in Justice Dept.'s $1.04 Billion

Civil Settlement with GlaxoSmithKline

PR Newswire

BOSTON and WASHINGTON, July 2, 2012

- G&E partner Reuben Guttman led team on behalf of a former GlaxoSmithKline

Therapeutic Sales Manager who alleged misrepresentation in promotion of

company's asthma/COPD drug

Advair

; firm's third major whistleblower recovery

in 2012, following Abbott Labs' $1.6 billion settlement and banks' $25 billion

payment over 'robo-signing' mortgage fraud

BOSTON

and

WASHINGTON

,

July 2, 2012

/PRNewswire/ -- Leading whistleblower

law firm

Grant & Eisenhofer

has represented one of several key

whistleblowers behind a

$1.04 billion

settlement announced today between

drug maker

GlaxoSmithKline

and the U.S. Department of Justice stemming

from alleged marketing abuses of various GSK medications. Grant &

Eisenhofer's client,

Lois Graydon

, is a nursing professional and former GSK

Therapeutic Sales Manager.

The U.S. Attorney's office in

Boston

led the investigation into promotional

tactics behind a total of nine GSK drugs. An accompanying criminal component

of the case is expected to substantially increase the sum of the recovery.

Grant & Eisenhofer partner

Reuben Guttman

and senior counsel

Traci

Buschner

are counsel to Lois Graydon, a registered nurse. She is one of the

"relators" who alleged that GSK made false and misleading statements about

Advair's safety and efficacy, thus enabling false or fraudulent claims to

Medicare, Medicaid, and other reimbursement programs.

Advair's share of the recovery – more than

$700 million

– amounts to over half

of the total civil settlement of

$1.04 billion

.

"The False Claims Act plays an important role in health industry compliance

enforcement; health care is an issue that touches everyone and oversight,

diligence and transparency are critical," said Mr. Guttman, one of the country's

leading whistleblower attorneys.

"It is important that the medical community pays attention to this settlement

and others and asks critical questions about the scientific support for the use of

prescription drugs," he added.

"In this election year, the safety of pharmaceuticals and their cost to the health

care system should be front and center," Mr. Guttman said.

He added, "Whistleblowers play an important role in compliance enforcement

of our laws. We were proud to have represented one of the whistleblowers on

this important case under the False Claims Act."

The GSK settlement is the latest in a series of high-profile outcomes for Mr.

Guttman on behalf of individual whistleblowers. The firm represented plaintiff

Lynn Szymoniak

, profiled on

60 Minutes

as a homeowner facing foreclosure

and later whistleblower on "robo-signing" fraud by large mortgage providers

including

Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase

, and

Wells

Fargo

.

The group of banks concluded a settlement with the Justice Department and

state Attorneys General this past March for

$25 billion

.

Grant & Eisenhofer also represented an

Abbott Laboratories

sales manager

who alleged the company illegally marketed its powerful anti-seizure

medication Depakote, while making kickbacks to physicians to prescribe it.

Among other allegations, Abbott was accused of promoting Depakote for use in

nursing homes to sedate patients with dementia and Alzheimer's, as well as for

hard-to-control children. The company was also charged with making illegal

payments to medical practitioners to prescribe it. This past May, Abbott agreed

to pay

$1.6 billion

to settle the claims, one of the largest payments ever for off-

label marketing of a single drug. Mr. Guttman and Ms. Buschner's client was

lead whistleblower when the Justice Department intervened on her behalf.

Mr. Guttman and Ms. Buschner currently represent several relators in an

ongoing government case against defense contractor

Lockheed Martin

regarding alleged environmental noncompliance and mishandling of hazardous

waste at one of its plants. The

Natural Resources Defense Council

has

joined the government's case. Additionally, Mr. Guttman and Ms. Buschner are

counsel to one of the relators in a case against

Wyeth

(now owned by

Pfizer

)

over alleged off-label marketing of Rapamune, its immunosuppressant post-

organ transplant drug.

Note: Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. represents institutional investors and

shareholders internationally in securities class actions, corporate governance

actions and derivative litigation. The firm has recovered more than

$13 billion

for shareholders in the last five years and has consistently been cited by

RiskMetrics for securing among the highest average investor recovery in

securities class actions. Grant & Eisenhofer has been named one of the

country's top plaintiffs' law firms by

The National Law Journal

for the past six

years. For more about Grant & Eisenhofer, visit www.gelaw.com or

www.whistleblowerlaws.com

From: Allan Ripp [phone] [e-mail]

James Bourne [phone] [e-mail]