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Goldberg Kohn Ltd. and the Philadelphia law firm of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti have filed a complaint, on behalf of two well-respected Philadelphia-area ophthalmologists, against Allergan Inc., claiming that the company paid kickbacks to induce doctors to write prescriptions for its eye care drugs.
The lawsuit alleges that Allergan provided illegal inducements, such as business consulting services through its team of Eye Care Business Advisors, in exchange for prescribing Allergan’s drugs, namely its popular “dry eye” drug RESTASIS®.
Allergan allegedly encouraged doctors to prescribe its products by touting its free consulting services as a way to boost profitability in exchange for prescribing Allergan medications. As a result, Allergan induced doctors to prescribe RESTASIS® instead of considering other significantly less expensive treatment alternatives.
The lawsuit, which was filed by Dr. Hebert Nevyas and Dr. Anita Nevyas-Wallace under the qui tam whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, is pending in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, and was unsealed on December 18. The False Claims Act encourages private citizens to report incidents of fraud against the government by allowing them to sue on behalf of the government and, in exchange, receive a share of any government financial recovery.
Goldberg Kohn is proud to represent clients who have the courage and integrity to come forward and report fraudulent activity. We look forward to the opportunity to vindicate the interests of federal and state governments in this case and other cases filed under the False Claims Act.
The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Nevyas, et al. v. Allergan, Inc., No. 09-0432 (E.D. Pa.)
Please contact us at (312) 863-7222 if you would like to schedule a free, confidential appointment with one of our nationally recognized whistleblower attorneys.