Here is a qui tam riddle: What does Wednesday's False Claims Act suit against Forest Laboratories have in common with the FCA cases against Medco Health Solutions (settled in 2006 for $155 million), Bristol-Myers Squibb (settled in 2007 for $515 million), and Cephalon Inc. (settled in 2008 for $425 million)?Oh sure, they're all suits against pharmaceutical companies accused of illegal marketing. And yes, they were all initiated by whistle-blowers who then persuaded the federal government to intervene. But there's something else that ties the cases together: Each featured a whistle-blower named Joseph Piacentile, a non-practicing New Jersey physician who now makes a living suing drug companies.
Piacentile is what you might call a professional whistleblower. According to his lawyer, David Stone of the Short Hills, New Jersey, office of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Piacentile used to be one of the doctors courted with lavish attention by drug companies. Then he stopped going to the fancy parties and started filing False Claims Act suits based on what he'd seen and learned. Not all of his cases have been as spectacularly successful as those against Medco, Bristol-Myers, and Cephalon, but with one-third of the government's recovery going to whistle-blowers in successful cases, Piacentile doesn't need to win 'em all.
3 comments:
Piacentile is a former Medicaid Fraud Felon who had his license revoked...The Boies firm uses him as their front man and puppet to gain financially. They are ruining the integrity of the false claims act with no insider knowledge in these cases. Punch up his name on the internet. He is a fraud.
As this man continues to obtain more and more spotlight time. I really hope individuals begin to do some research on him. Like the above poster said, just look him up and the search results are overwhelming. After 25 years of practicing law in Florida I must say it like this man is a high profile scam artist...period. I am very curious to see if there are any new developments in regards to Piacentile's shot at Amgen.
Does anyone have any information regarding Piancentile's future plans of keeping Boies, Schiller & Flexner? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Boo Hoo---I'm an innocent defense attorney and the bad man doctor made my client cry!
Spare me.
Why don't you Sallies read the actual qui tam statute.
You will quickly learn that it "takes a rouge to catch a rouge."
Why don't you Puppets look at the behavior of your clients a bit more closely, rather than those who accurately point out the fraud---warts and all.
Or grab a bottle and suck it.
Either way, I don't really care.
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