According to recent statistics released by the Department of Justice (DOJ), federal government enforcement actions targeting the health care and pharmaceutical industries have risen over the past year by about 5%. In 2019, the DOJ brought in over $3 billion in judgments and settlements under the False Claims Act (FCA), with $2.6 billion stemming from health care and life sciences companies such as hospitals, drug manufacturers and pharmacies. In addition,...
January 15, 2020 |
By: Lucas W. Morgan, Esq. On Friday January 10, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the State of Arkansas wherein the Attorney General of Arkansas, Leslie Rutledge, asked the Court to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit’s decision, specifically asking the Supreme Court to consider "[w]hether the Eighth Circuit erred in holding that Arkansas’s statute . . . is...
On November 21, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ"), at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"), filed a complaint against ABH Nature's Products, Inc., ABH Pharma, Inc., StockNutra.com, Inc. (together, "ABH") and their owners in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. According to the complaint, ABH and their owners allegedly manufactured, prepared, labeled, packed, held and distributed dietary supplements under...
January 09, 2020 |
By: Nicole M. DeWitt, Esq. Frier Levitt recently filed an emergent application for injunctive relief in an arbitration filed on behalf of commonly owned pharmacy clients facing termination by a PBM following an audit of one of the commonly owned pharmacies. The PBM sought to terminate all the pharmacies based on the results of the audit. The commonly owned pharmacies successfully obtained a temporary restraining order against the PBM, enjoining the PBM from terminating the pharmacies....
Frier Levitt recently commenced an emergency arbitration against a PBM that had scheduled a termination against a pharmacy client. The PBM had subjected the pharmacy to an audit and had terminated the pharmacy based upon the results of the audit. The pharmacy argued it had presented the PBM with ample evidence to refute the audit results and, after the hearing on the preliminary injunction, the arbitrator found the pharmacy had...
