Congress is mostly made up of attorneys. Additionally, many heads of agencies and high level
bureaucrats are also For decades attorneys have worked in Congress and once their terms are over,
many of them take jobs in private sector lobbying firms (where they previously made laws oppose the
laws they wrote.) Government attorneys are not highly paid, but after they leave and join
corporations which oppose the laws they made, they are paid higher amounts due their knowledge and
personal contacts the agencies they work for.
Private attorneys in whistleblower and False Claims Act cases work on contingencies. Therefore, it
is essential that they do a great deal of due diligence and ensure that the case and evidence
proving it or solid. There are additional requirements specific to these cases that cause them to
be different because the cases are brought by the government to the whistleblower or relator
against the government or agencies went in the government to be more specific.
These are federal cases brought in federal court on behalf of citizens in 29 states as well as in
Washington DC. These states have False Claims Acts.
These cases are either accepted or rejected by the but the department overseeing the area of
commerce. When a Medicare or Medicaid case is filed the Justice, Department is often conflicted; it
must defend the agency what the same time protect taxpayers against fraud. The decisive ingredient
is the attorney in the agency charged with keeping the integrity of the agency’s programs.
Due to the immense numbers of cases brought against Medicare and Medicaid, they decided to hire
integrity officers so that companies and corporations understand the consequences and requirements
of supplying the government. When any company or individual settles a they are required to enter
into a five-year integrity agreement basically putting them on parole. He reoccurrence in another
case requires they be removed from the provider listing. This is almost impossible in
pharmaceuticals since it would be denying patients the medicines they need.
In the past 32 years the settlements on average have been one half of one percent. Pharmaceutical
manufacturers know that the government will not send any one to jail or demand that cases go to
trial. Therefore, settlements of less than a half percent do not stop or control
fraud in pharmaceutical products.