‘Courageous’ whistleblowers awarded $237 million by federal government in 2021

Apr 6

The U.S. federal government awarded $237 million in fiscal year 2021 to whistleblowers who exposed fraud and false claims, the Justice Department reported on Feb. 1, 2022.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton called the whistleblowers who came forward “courageous.”

“Industry insiders are uniquely positioned to expose fraud and false claims and often risk their careers to bring these schemes to light,” said Boynton. “Our efforts to protect taxpayer funds benefit from the courageous actions of these whistleblowers, and they are justly rewarded under the False Claims Act.”

Scott Williams, CEO of Ethic Alliance, noted that the federal government’s large awards demonstrate why potential whistleblowers should contact Ethic Alliance.

“It isn’t well known that the US federal and state governments, by laws that have been in place since the Civil War, pay whistleblowers 10%-30% of the amount recovered or sanctioned for fraud against the government to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Ethic Alliance was founded to help whistleblowers make these reports, be protected, get rewarded and access a network of experienced professionals that have spent their careers helping whistleblowers,” said Williams.

Ethic Alliance is a for-profit corporation and law firm whose purpose is to empower, educate and protect whistleblowers, ensuring they receive the protection they need and the rewards they are entitled to under US law (the US government will typically reward whistleblowers 10%-30% of the amount recovered or sanctioned under various whistleblower laws), generating profits for investors while reducing corruption, fraud, theft, lying and cheating in our society.

Ethic Alliance protects whistleblowers through a secure, encrypted reporting and messaging platform, attaching the strong legal protection of attorney-client privilege from the moment a report is filed, and access to a network of specialty attorneys to win whistleblower lawsuits.

Contact Ethic Alliance at info@ethicalliance.com

The U.S. False Claims Act was amended in 1986 to encourage whistleblowers to come forward with allegations of fraud. In 2009 and 2010, further improvements were made to the False Claims Act and its whistleblower provisions.

Whistleblowers filed 598 so-called “qui tam” lawsuits in fiscal year 2021 (the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2021). During the year, the Justice Department reported settlements and judgments exceeding $1.6 billion in these and earlier-filed suits.

If the government prevails in a qui tam action, the whistleblower, also known as the “relator,” typically receives a portion of the recovery ranging between 15% and 30%.

Health care fraud was once again the leading source of the Justice Department’s False Claims Act settlements and judgments this past year.

Kickbacks in the healthcare industry are “pernicious” because of their potential to subvert medical decision-making and to increase healthcare costs, according to the Justice Department.

“The department’s health care fraud enforcement efforts restore funds to federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE, the health care program for service members and their families,” the Justice Department said. “But just as important, the department’s vigorous pursuit of health care fraud prevents billions more in losses by deterring others who might try to cheat the system for their own gain.”

Major settlements include one with electronic health records (EHR) technology vendor Athenahealth Inc., which paid $18.25 million to resolve allegations that it invited customers and prospective customers to lavish all-expense-paid sporting, entertainment, and recreational events to generate sales of its EHR product, the Justice Department said.

Generic pharmaceutical manufacturers Taro, Sandoz, and Apotex paid over $400 million to resolve allegations that they paid and received compensation prohibited by the Anti-Kickback Statute through arrangements on price, supply and allocation of customers with other pharmaceutical manufacturers as part of a conspiracy to fix the price of certain generic drugs, the Justice Department said.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

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