ON-Demand Podcast: Covid-19 Whistleblower and Qui Tam CLE: Collecting Evidence & Making the Claim



Learn the latest on Mastering Bad Faith & Covid-19 Litigation with this convenient, 24/7 On-demand Seminar & Complimentary Podcast. Register to obtain CLE & MCLE credit, online access to complete course & reference materials, and attend this on-demand seminar. YOU MAY LISTEN FROM ALMOST ANY TYPE OF COMPUTER OR IPOD. ACCESS TO THE RECORDING AND MATERIALS DOES NOT EXPIRE.

Benefits:

Over the past two decades, nearly $30 billion has been recovered through Qui Tam cases under the False Claims Act. The demand for attorneys in this surging area has become even stronger as the federal government has spent over $6 trillion in response to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus, or Covid-19. As it becomes apparent that some recipients of the funds are not adhering to requisite protocols, there is an immediate need for attorneys to represent clients in this lucrative area of law. There is also a tremendous need for attorneys fluent in class action litigation & defenses for parallel matters stemming from Qui Tam claims. In particular, attorneys must be fluent on complaints, defenses, litigation strategies, discovery and government incentives, among others. The faculty for this seminar features three of the nation’s leading authorities in this practice. Registration includes online access to course and reference materials.

Agenda:

Covid-19 Whistleblower and Qui Tam CLE: Collecting Evidence & Making the Claim:

a. Legal Issues involving the Coronavirus/Covid-19

b. Earning Fees from Whistleblower, Qui Tam and False Claims Actions

c. Filing Winning Complaints

d. Latest Developments in Qui Tam & Whistleblower Claims

e. Obtaining Large Rewards through Government Incentives

f. Key Procedural Distinctions in Retaliation Claims

g. Overcoming & Responding to Defenses

h. Effective Use of Key Documents & Evidence

i. Cutting-edge Strategies in False Claim Cases

j. Ethical Issues

k. Parallel Class Actions

l. Class Certification

Recorded Question & Answer Session

Biography of Seminar Faculty:

1. Reuben Guttman is a founding member of Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC. His practice involves complex litigation and class actions. He has represented clients in claims brought under the Federal False Claims Act, securities laws, the Price Anderson Act, Department of Energy statutes and regulations, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and various employment discrimination, labor and environmental statutes. He has also tried and/or litigated claims involving fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, antitrust, business interference and other common law torts. The International Business Times has called Mr. Guttman “one of the world’s most prominent whistleblower attorneys.” He has served as counsel in some of the largest recoveries under the False Claims Act. Mr. Guttman served as lead counsel in a series of cases resulting in the recovery of more than $30 million under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Mr. Guttman is the author and/or editor of numerous articles, book chapters, and technical publications and his commentary has appeared in Market Watch, American Lawyer Media, AOL Government, Accounting Today, and the Jerusalem Post. In addition to his writings, Mr. Guttman has testified before committees of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate on the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). In 1992, he advised President-elect Clinton’s transition team on labor policy and worker health and safety regulation. Mr. Guttman earned his law degree at Emory University School of Law, where he has been appointed as a Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the Emory University School of Law Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution and has been a Team Leader for the school’s Trial Techniques Program.

2. Shauna Itri is a Partner at Seeger Weiss LLP, where she has been leading litigation teams in complex fraud cases in both state and federal courts for over a decade. Her nationwide practice has focused on representing plaintiffs in various settings including securities and consumer class actions; antitrust; and cases involving patient harm. Shauna also has extensive experience representing whistleblowers in False Claims Act lawsuits, and tax and securities whistleblowers with claims under the IRS and SEC whistleblower programs. Ms. Itri is a nationally recognized speaker and has published numerous articles on representing whistleblowers and litigating Qui Tam claims. She served on the litigation teams working on the multi-billion-dollar lawsuits brought against BMW, General Motors, Ford Motors, and Mercedes for allegedly disguising the actual emission levels of their diesel engine cars. The settlement figure in these cases make them the largest auto-related consumer class-action settlement in U.S. history. Ms. Itri was a member of trial team of False Claims Act case which settled for $120 million, in two cases that alleged that a defendant defrauded the government by providing kickbacks to nursing homes. Ms. Itri was part of a litigation team that worked extensively with the Department of Justice and State Attorneys General across the nation representing whistleblowers in a series of False Claims Act cases against drug companies for fraudulent Medicaid and Medicare drug pricing which has led to more than $3 billion in recoveries. She is a graduate of Stanford University and Villanova University.

3. Jennifer A. Riley is a Partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, where she defends companies facing class actions, collective actions, pattern or practice lawsuits, and other types of representative proceedings, ranging in size from dozens to tens of thousands of claims. For nearly two decades, Ms. Riley has defended companies faced with significant complex litigation matters. As such, she works on the forefront of the developing law in an ever changing arena. Ms. Riley regularly develops strategies for navigating some of the largest challenges faced by corporate America today and counsels employers confronted with a range of complex employment law theories that span from claims of discrimination or sexual harassment to myriad types of alleged wage & hour violations. She is a regular speaker and presenter regarding developments in the law and challenges on the horizon. Ms. Riley has extensive litigation experience. She has represented clients facing bet-the-company cases in a wide range of complex civil litigation matters in federal and state courts across the country. Ms. Riley has served as trial counsel in federal court bench trials, jury trials, and arbitration proceedings. She has successfully defended a multitude of actions by securing dismissal, defeating class or collective action certification, prevailing on summary judgment, and structuring and securing approval of complex and multiparty settlements and consent decrees. Ms. Riley also routinely counsels employers to navigate thorny employment issues, including through investigations and terminations. she is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.

CLE Credit: Rossdale CLE is a national leader in attorney education and has trained thousands of attorneys, paralegals, and other legal professionals.

Learn more at https://www.mcssl.com/store/legalresourcesinc/catalog/product/29aaead722c8417dabf0b37b00a97efe

Hudson Valley Hematology Oncology Associates, $5.3 million

U.S. ex rel. Abrahamsen v. Hudson Valley,
Southern District of New York.

Firm attorneys brought a qui tam suit against Hudson Valley Hematology Oncology Associates (Hudson Valley), a New York based treatment center for patients with blood disorders and cancer. The complaint alleges that Hudson Valley illegally billed Medicare and Medicaid for services that were improperly documented and/or were not rendered. Hudson Valley was also accused of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute by waiving copayments and adding the waived fees to claims for Medicare reimbursement. The relator, a former billing department employee at Hudson Valley, recieved between 10-25% of the funds recovered for the government. Hudson Valley also entered into a corporate integrity agreement as part of the settlement. 

Read more: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/10/21/medicare-hudson-valley-hematology-oncology/92510938/

Wisconsin Based APM Settles FCA Suit

The DOJ accounted that federally funded Advanced Pain Management Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries, collectively called APM Entities, have agreed to pay the government $885k to settle a qui tam False Claims Act suit. The complaint alleges that the companies illegally gifted stock shares to non-employee physicians, in violation of the Anti-kickback Act, as compensation based on the number of patient referrals and pain management procedures provides. In addition to offering illegal kickbacks, APM was accused of providing medically unnecessary urine tests, resulting in more testing than was supported by medical records. The whistleblower will receive $142k as her share of the recovery.

Learn more here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wisconsin-pain-management-companies-settle-false-claims-act-allegations

Gilead Inc. Agrees to $97m FCA Settlement

The Justice Department has announced that California based pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. has agreed to pay $97 million to settle allegations of fraud. Whistleblowers accused the company of using a foundation to illegally pay the prescription copays for a hypertension drug, Letairis, for millions of Medicare patients. Drug companies are prohibited, under the Anti-kickback Statute, from directly or indirectly incentivizing patients to purchase their drug; by covering the copay for Letairis patients, Gilead was able to increase the drug’s price to what would have otherwise resulted in prohibitively expensive copays. The Justice Department stated that price manipulation and unscrupulous subsidization of a company’s own drugs are exactly the types of behavior the Medicare copay structure was designed to prohibit, and that this settlement demonstrates the government’s emphasis on combatting healthcare fraud.

Learn more here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/gilead-agrees-pay-97-million-resolve-alleged-false-claims-act-liability-paying-kickbacks

DOJ Announces FCA Lawsuit Against Teva Neuroscience, Inc.

The DOJ announced that the U.S. has filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and Teva Neuroscience Inc., accusing the companies of illegally paying the Medicare co-pays for patients taking Copaxone, a drug for multiple sclerosis. The complaint alleges that Teva violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits drug companies from “offering or paying, directly or indirectly, any remuneration… to induce Medicare patients to purchase the companies’ drugs.” Teva skirted this regulation by paying seemingly independent charitable organizations with the understanding that the funds would cover Medicare co-pays for patients taking Copaxone. At the same time, the company increased the annual price of the drug from $17,000 to over $70,000. The DOJ states that the government’s pursuit of this lawsuit illustrates the U.S. commitment to preventing pharmaceutical companies from defrauding government programs at the expense of American taxpayers and customers.

Read more here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-files-false-claims-act-complaint-against-drug-maker-teva-pharmaceuticals

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