Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a national class action law firm headquartered in New York City and co-counsel Berger & Montague,P.C. announced today that they have reached a settlement in three separate but related whistleblower lawsuits alleging violations of the False Claims Act against pharmaceutical manufacturers AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Cephalon, Inc., and Biogen Inc., for a total of $55.5 million. The cases were jointly prosecuted by Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP and Berger & Montague, P.C. on behalf of Relator Ronald J. Streck, who filed this action in 2008. Under the terms of the settlement, AstraZeneca will pay $46.5 million, Cephalon will pay $7.5 million, and Biogen will pay $1.5 million. Claims against a fourth drug manufacturer, Genzyme Corporation, are still being litigated. The case, pending in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is captioned United States ex rel. Ronald Streck v. Allergan, et al., Case No. 08-cv-5135.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the United States under the False Claims Act (FCA) and State False Claims Acts alleges that a number of pharmaceutical manufacturers, including AstraZeneca, Cephalon and Biogen, fraudulently underpaid mandatory rebates to state Medicaid programs. Streck’s lead attorney, T. Talyana Bromberg of Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, stated: “When pharmaceutical companies manipulate prices in order to underpay Medicaid, every taxpayer suffers. Whistleblowers like Ronald Streck play a vital role in protecting the integrity of the system.”
This is the most recent in a long line of successful whistleblower litigation involving clients represented by the firm’s lead whistleblower attorney Talyana Bromberg. Previously, Ms. Bromberg was involved in representing whistleblowers in pharmaceutical, financial, health care, and government contractor cases, with settlements totaling over $4.5 billion.
For inquiries, please contact: T. Talyana Bromberg, Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP; (215) 277-5770 or tbromberg@faruqilaw.com.