Pfizer (Rapamune), $257.4 million
U.S. ex rel. Sandler and Paris v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer, Inc.,
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The firm’s attorneys served as lead counsel for two whistleblowers who alleged marketing abuses of Pfizer subsidiary Wyeth Pharmaceutical’s immunosuppressant drug Rapamune. After initially declining to participate in the case, the Justice Department ultimately intervened after being presented with the strength of the evidence uncovered by the Firm’s attorneys and their clients. The case culminated in a $257.4 million settlement, one of the largest False Claims Act recoveries for a single drug. The settlement agreement noted the broad scope of Wyeth’s alleged unlawful marketing of Rapamune, including the knowing promotion of Rapamune for uses that were not approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company also pled guilty to a violation of the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act and entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.