The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Ortho Biotech Products, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, in an appeal attempting to prevent a qui tam lawsuit against them from moving forward. The whistleblower case was filed by Mark Eugene Duxbury, a former employee who alleges the company provided kickbacks to doctors for prescribing the anemia drug, Procrit.
According to Duxbury, the kickbacks given to doctors have artificially boosted Ortho Biotech’s Medicare reimbursements, which is a violation of the U.S. False Claims Act. Ortho Biotech appealed the lawsuit, claiming Duxbury was unable to file his whistleblower claim because similar charges had been brought in another case.
While the False Claims Act only allows the first whistleblower that comes forward to file a claim, a federal appeals court in Boston initially ruled the case can move forward because Duxbury met the False Claims Act requirement of being an “original source” since he disclosed his information to the government before filing his claim. Ortho Biotech appealed this ruling all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was ultimately rejected. The case Ortho Biotech v. United States ex rel. Duxbury, 09-654 will now be able to move forward without any further hindrances.
If you have a whistleblower claim in the Washington, D.C. area, please contact the qui tam lawyers at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. today to schedule your free initial consultation.
