Today, the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts announced that the United States has filed a complaint in intervention in a False Claims Act qui tam case that our client, James Landolt, filed against Mallinckrodt ARD LLC. Mr. Landolt filed his complaint on behalf of the United States as well as thirty States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Our client’s case alleges that Mallinckrodt violated federal and state False Claims Acts by failing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid rebates for its high-priced drug Acthar.
Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division said:
The Department will not hesitate to hold accountable drug companies that attempt to skirt this important protection at the expense of the Medicaid program, which helps ensure that some of our most vulnerable citizens are able to receive medical care.
United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Andrew Lelling, explained:
Mallinckrodt raised the price of its drug Acthar to an extraordinary level and then allegedly cheated the Medicaid program out of hundreds of millions of dollars. The government will always target this kind of exploitation of a program designed to provide health care to vulnerable members of our society.
“Our client is very pleased that the government has taken this important step to hold Mallinckrodt accountable for its misconduct with Acthar,” said Linda C. Severin, who along with Suzanne E. Durrell and Robert M. Thomas, Jr., represents Mr. Landolt. “We appreciate the tremendous work that government attorneys and investigators have put into this case and look forward to assisting the government in bringing it to a successful conclusion for the benefit of the taxpayers and the Medicaid program.”
The Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC, based in Boston, devotes its practice entirely to representing clients in bringing actions under the federal and state False Claims Acts and other whistleblower programs. Under the False Claims Act, a private citizen (known as a “relator”) who suspects or knows of fraud against the government can act as a whistleblower and file a sealed complaint on behalf of the government. If the case is successful, the relator is entitled to a share of the government’s recovery. Among the firm’s many successes is the government’s $465 million settlement with Mylan for failing to pay the correct Medicaid rebates on its high–priced drug EpiPen.
For more information, contact the Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC at 617.366.2800
