This is a wide ranging story that includes at least ten whistleblower lawsuits filed in numerous states. The qui tam suits suggest Amgen defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and other government health care programs, by promoting off label uses for Aranesp or darbepoetin alfa, which is used to treat anemia as a result of chronic renal failure. Aranesp is apparently not the only drug the company was suggesting that doctors use off label either. Their campaign was to encourage physicians and other health care professionals, to prescribe Aranesp and Sensipar, among other drugs, and pay kickbacks to them.

The whistleblower in this case, United States ex rel. Cantor v. Amgen, Inc., Civil Action No. CV-04-2511 (E.D.N.Y.), is Tom Cantor. His suit alleges Amgen, in essence, bribed doctors to boost the sales of six of their drugs, the two already mentioned and four others, Neupogen, Neulasta, Engrel and Epogen. The idea was to get doctors to prescribe their drugs for off label uses, earning the physicians cash back in the deal. Using a drug off label means it is utilized for a different disease/condition than the drug was created to treat, is given in a different manner than suggested or given in a dose that differs from what is approved on the FDA approved drug label.

The suit was filed under seal in 2004 in New York City and just recently, all the lawsuits were unsealed, with the government, who had joined the suit, announcing the settlement with Amgen. Typically a defendant will settle out of court if they feel they stand to lose more by going to court. It provides them some measure of damage control. While they suggest a settlement is not an admission of guilt, 9 out of 10 people would think otherwise. Amgen also pled guilty to illegally introducing Aranesp, a misbranded drug, into the marketplace, which is a misdemeanor. Overall, their legal leg to stand on was not that solid or convincing.

Paying someone to make a decision based on how much money they stand to make for prescribing a drug is not only illegal, it is immoral and unethical. Drugs are supposed to be prescribed based on medical reasons and medical necessity, not in the anticipation of greenbacks. While off label marketing and drug usage is sometime done in the medical field, the fact is that doctors should prescribe their patients drugs that will help them. If doctors do that with integrity and honesty, that is one thing. If they do that with an eye on their bank account, that is another.

Without whistleblowers filing qui tam lawsuits, the federal government would continue to be ripped off for millions of dollars every year. There appears to be an attitude that the government is fair game when it comes to taking money for fraudulent activities. Whistleblowers are slowly leveling the playing field.

Are you in a situation where you have evidence of fraudulent activities being perpetrated against the federal government? Contact an experienced and knowledgeable Cleveland whistleblower lawyer. You will need one to file suit.

Tom Robenalt is a Cleveland whistleblower Lawyer specializing in Cleveland whistleblower cases cases in Ohio. To learn more, visit www.mellinorobenalt.com.

It seems various states, and groups, are mulling over a variety of ways to deal with medical malpractice compensation, rather than leave justice to an independent court and jury. People don’t seem to recognize that capping medical malpractice compensation is making a plaintiff a victim twice, or that if the victim is short-changed in terms of compensation, they will not be able to care for themselves properly. Someone needs to be held accountable for medical errors, and it’s not the victim that should be paying for those mistakes.

A Georgia-based group, Patients for Fair Compensation, is suggesting a medical liability structure based on the workers’ compensation system. Their reason for suggesting a change is that such a system brings down health care costs, as physicians will no longer practice defensive medicine. It makes one wonder if advocates for this type of a system truly understand the horrendous situation seriously debilitated victims find themselves in when people suggest they should take less money as compensation for the outrageous injustice of medical negligence.

With a philosophy like taking less for medical malpractice injuries, it should not come as too much of a surprise to learn that Patients for Fair Compensation is not a group of actual medical malpractice patients. It is headed up by a man who runs Jackson Healthcare. Jackson Healthcare provides hospitals with medical care professionals. On reflection, this group would hardly be in favor of pro-patient compensation.

According to their stated goals, they promote an advocate to guide a patient through the system. The main question here would be who that advocate is really working for – the insurance industry or the patient? Chances are it would be the insurance industry, which indicates a distinct bias. Once the claim has been filed, the idea is that it would be forwarded to a Medical Review Department to gather facts.

From there, it would move to an independent medical panel in charge of reviewing the claim once again and determining if it was an avoidable medical mistake causing injury. Once again, the concern is who does this process really protect, if the goal is to reduce compensation for medical malpractice victims?

The next step in the process would involve a compensation department, in charge of determining a fee schedule that addresses non-economic and economic damages. If a patient is eligible, they would be awarded damages according to a pre-determined schedule. Who determines the fee schedule? Not an independent jury. Who determines if a patient is eligible? Not an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. While this process may sound like it makes sense, the whole goal is to short-change the injured victim. Where is the justice in that?

The long and short of a compensation system, such as the one proposed by Patients for Fair Compensation, is that it makes the patient a victim twice, under the guise of trying to help the settlement process. What is really going on is that the insurance industry wants to save money on the backs of innocent people, injured by medically negligent health care professionals. Hope this system, or anything else like it, does not come to a state you live in. The determination of compensation for medical malpractice should rest solely with an independent jury – period.

Tom Robenalt is a Cleveland Malpractice Lawyer specializing in Cleveland Medical Malpractice cases in Ohio. To learn more, visit www.mellinorobenalt.com.

This is an interesting story involving a deputy jailer, who feels he was retaliated against for conducting an investigation into alleged corruption at a county detention center. Some of his findings, which appeared in his report, included the discovery that contraband smuggling was almost a way of life in the facility, and that there was a deputy having intimate relations with an inmate. This particular case happened in Kentucky, but it could easily happen in any other state, including Ohio.

Bound by duty and a strong moral code, the deputy jailer filed a lawsuit asking for protection and damages under Kentucky’s Whistleblower Act. He is further seeking lost benefits, and punitive and compensatory damages, attorney fees and costs. The Kentucky Whistleblower Act, like most whistleblower legislation in other states, bans retaliation against workers who report bad conditions or practices occurring in their workplaces.

Named in the lawsuit was the head jailer, who was accused of not properly investigating the claims made by the deputy jailer and who demoted the deputy jailer after he passed the serious information in his report on to the Kentucky State Police. As part of the statement of claim, the deputy jailer stated the chief jailer told him to put a lid on the investigation, telling him he wanted no part of the report in any way, shape or form. Shortly after the report was handed in, the deputy jailer began to receive disciplinary write-ups and was subsequently stripped of his investigator duties and demoted to a floor deputy.

In Kentucky, the whistleblower law does not dictate that an individual with serious concerns, like the ones in this case, follow the chain of command. Even though he attempted to do so, he was made painfully aware that the deputies at the local jail repeatedly turned a blind-eye to smuggling. Based on the nature of the report filed by the deputy jailer, and his further observations and allegations, the State Police launched an investigation into the facility.

They were less than impressed with the jailer who was having sexual relations with a female inmate – a flagrant violation of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act. Interestingly, the jailer accused of having sex with an inmate, even though later cleared of the allegation, was ultimately fired when he refused to resign. He filed a wrongful termination lawsuit.

If you are in a situation where you see something illegal going on around you, reach out and contact an experienced Ohio whistleblower attorney. These cases are difficult and you will want to know what will happen when you file suit and what the possible outcome may be.

Tom Robenalt is a Cleveland, Ohio whistleblower attorney To learn more, visit Christophermellino.com.

How many people do you know who have dreamt, and maybe even tried, to rip the government off when it comes
to filing taxes or for performing work they did not perform? Stories abound about it. Movies are made featuring
big wheels with lots of money, trying to hide it “somehow”.

Lately, the “somehow”, is to attempt to defraud the federal government by helping other commit tax evasion
and committing other forms of fraud, such as Medicare overbilling, by using the wrong codes, or performing
unnecessary procedures, or billing for procedures not performed. The possibilities for ripping the federal
government off are legion, and whistleblowers have many an opportunity to blow.

Call it under reporting, or fiddling with the numbers, or an indirect fabrication about the facts, but the fact is, fraud
is alive and well, and living in the U.S. As Cleveland, Ohio whistleblower attorneys, we are seeing an increase in
cases such as this.

Sometimes perpetrators get away with it, for a period of time, and then, the government catches up with them.
Consider the latest story to hit the media; a record breaking $104 million award to an IRS informant. There is more
to this story, but the salient point is the informant was a former banker, who revealed a scheme commonly used
by banks, which helped clients to evade paying taxes.

The former banker, now a convicted felon, was paid one of the largest rewards in history by the IRS for his
information. The tax cheat facilitator turned himself in, offering information to prosecute himself, and his now
former client. On prosecution, the IRS and their attorneys acknowledged they could not have succeeded without
his information and cooperation. Said banker ratted on a tax cheat he was helping, went to jail and will come
out 40-months later a millionaire. Indeed, truth is stranger than fiction. Not all cases are like this one. This is an
exception to the usual rule of thumb.

Can anyone turn in a tax cheat or reveal a scheme to defraud the government? Yes, however there are some
rules and regulations you need to know about. Documentation of the scheme is king, as is confidentiality. The
whistleblower program has been revamped and there are several criteria: the large awards program and the not so
large awards program, with the distinction being the percentage of reward an informant may garner later.

The large awards program is applicable when taxes, penalties and interest on a fraud case are in excess of $2
million or, if the taxpayer is an individual whose gross income is in excess of $200,000. Under this program, the
award percentages run from 15 percent to 30 percent of what is ultimately collected after prosecution. The not so
large awards program is for those who do not qualify under the large awards program, and offers 15 percent of the
actual collected proceeds.

You definitely need expert legal assistance from a Cleveland, Ohio whistleblower attorney, to file a whistleblower’s
case. This is because the IRS wants any submissions to make sense, come complete with legal evidence and an
attorney’s memorandum spelling out the law. If it is easy for them to pick up the complaint and run with it, the
chances are higher it will be pursued to conclusion.

Keep in mind whistleblower cases are not about keeping things short, sweet and simple. They typically are lengthy
matters: however, new rules have been passed to expedite the process in certain cases. Your attorney will explain
the situation.

Tom Robenalt is a Cleveland, Ohio whistleblower attorney To learn more, visit Christophermellino.com.