Pfizer subsidiary pleads guilty to off-label marketing of powerful immunosuppressent Rapamune; settlement latest in series of major off-label whistleblower cases against Abbott, GlaxoSmithKline and Amgen
WASHINGTON, DC (July 30, 2013) – Leading whistleblower attorneys Reuben Guttman and Traci Buschner of Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC represented two key whistleblowers behind a $257.4 million settlement announced today between drugmaker Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Pfizer, and the U.S. Department of Justice stemming from alleged marketing abuses of Wyeth’s powerful immunosuppressant drug Rapamune. The case was originally brought by Marlene Sandler and Scott Paris, both of whom were sales representatives for the company.
Today’s blockbuster settlement of the whistleblower case was originally panned by the Justice Department, but raised the ire of a Congressional oversight committee in 2010.
The case, filed under seal in 2005 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, led to an investigation by the Justice Department and multiple states into abusive marketing practices related to Rapamune, which is primarily approved by the FDA for individuals following kidney transplants to help the body prevent organ rejection. On Dec.3, 2006, the DOJ filed a formal notice with the Eastern District declining to intervene in the case.
Guttman and Buschner continued to move forward with the case, and filed an amended complaint on behalf of the whistleblowers on May 24, 2010 ─ which spurred a formal inquiry by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, then chaired by U.S. Representative Edolphus Towns.
On Sept. 21, 2010, the Justice Department intervened in the case and transferred it to the U.S. the District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, where an investigation was initiated with regard to claims brought by a third whistleblower.
The settlement agreement notes the broad scope of Wyeth’s alleged unlawful marketing of Rapamune for well over a decade, spanning from September 1999 to December 2011:
Wyeth (a) knowingly promoted the sale and use of Rapamune for uses for which it had not been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including for use in connection with solid organ transplant patients other than kidney transplant patients, which were not medically-accepted indications (as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 1396r-8(k)(6)), and were not covered by Medicare, Medicaid and other Federal health care programs; and (b) knowingly promoted the sale and use of Rapamune in treatment regimens that had not been approved by the FDA including the use of Rapamune with transplant patients who used another immunosuppressant drug before using Rapamune and the use of Rapamune in combination with certain types of products other than cyclosporine and corticosteroids.
Ms. Sandler and Mr. Paris were represented by Reuben Guttman and Traci Buschner. Mr. Guttman is one of the country’s preeminent whistleblower lawyers, having representing individuals in some of the largest pharmaceutical and financial services cases on record.
“Pfizer subsidiary Wyeth joins a parade of other pharma giants to plead guilty and pay significant penalties for unlawfully marketing their drugs,” said Mr. Guttman. “The abuses related to illicit marketing of Rapamune paint a disturbing portrait. Wyeth leadership placed a highly vulnerable patient population at serious health risk. Exposing those whom drug makers have pledged to heal to increased risk merits immediate congressional oversight. Hopefully, the settlement will prompt Congress to take action.”
Mr. Guttman continued: “Over the past five years, at least half a dozen pharma giants have paid fines for conduct that places patients in harm’s way, yet not a single individual has been held accountable. Our nation can no longer afford the expenditure for drugs that don’t work, cause additional harm and saddle the country with the long-term of obligation of paying for the medical care of victims. These cases are reported in terms of dollars but they are more about conduct that impacts patients and taxpayer.”
In the last three years, Guttman and Buschner have had unprecedented success representing lead whistleblowers in the government’s $1.6 billion settlement with Abbott (2012); its $1.04 billion settlement with GlaxoSmithKline (2012); and its $24.9 million dollar settlement with Amgen (2013). The firm also represented whistleblower Lynn Szymoniak, who first reported claims of robo-signing to 60 Minutes and whose allegations led to a $95 million settlement as part of the government’s historic $25 billion settlement with the country’s four largest banks (2012).
Mr. Guttman and Ms. Buschner currently represent several relators in an ongoing case, in which the government has intervened, against defense contractor LockheedMartin regarding alleged environmental noncompliance and mishandling of hazardous waste at the Paducah Kentucky Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
