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  • Andrew J. Hull

    • DEA Issues Decisions in Pharmacy CasesJune 18th, 2018

      Over the last couple of months, DEA has issued four decisions revoking the registrations of pharmacies (recall that DEA issued only one decision in 2017 involving a pharmacy). In February 2018, the Acting Administrator revoked the registrations of Trinity Pharmacy I, 83 Fed. Reg. 7220 …

    • DEA, Nunc Pro Tunc Rulings, and Hearings That Never HappenedJune 13th, 2018

      A couple of months ago, the DEA Acting Administrator issued an order revoking the registration of David A. Ruben, M.D., on the grounds of lack of state authority (the Arizona Medical Board suspended his medical license in 2017). The same doctor was the subject of …

    • Supreme Court Denies Cert. Petition Accusing Fifth Circuit of “Sabotage of Off-Label Enforcement”May 24th, 2018

      Last September, we posted on the Fifth Circuit’s decision to uphold summary judgment and award of costs in favor of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in a False Claims Act (FCA) case (see post here). The relators pursued an FCA theory against Solvay based on allegations of …

    • Pennsylvania Appeals Court Affirms Preemption of State Law Claims Based on Off-Label MarketingMay 16th, 2018

      Last week, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania struck a blow to Appellant Joseph Caltagirone’s wrongful death and survival claims against drug manufacturers Cephalon, Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals, USA, Inc. The Superior Court’s non-precedential decision relied on federal preemption principles to affirm the trial court’s dismissal …

    • DePuy Petitions Supreme Court to Weigh in on FCA Pleading StandardsMarch 22nd, 2018

      Last year, the First Circuit reversed the dismissal of a False Claim Act (FCA) case brought against DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., holding that the district court had wrongly dismissed the relators’ complaint for failing to plead with particularity under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) (see …

    • New DOJ Memo Discusses Factors for Dismissing FCA CasesJanuary 25th, 2018

      The Department of Justice recently issued a memo to all attorneys in the Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and any Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling False Claims Act (FCA) cases, directing those attorneys to seek dismissal of FCA cases under certain circumstances. While the government’s ability …

    • DEA Administrative Decisions: 2017 in ReviewJanuary 12th, 2018

      It was a somewhat unsettling year for the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Agency faced a barrage of criticism in the press regarding its involvement in passage of the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act (EPAEDEA), which some criticized as hobbling DEA’s immediate suspension …

    • Litigation Briefing: HP&M Issues Report Summarizing Leading Cases and Settlements of 2017January 8th, 2018

      Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. is pleased to present this report summarizing leading cases and settlements from 2017 affecting the FDA-regulated industry. Our goal was to provide a concise summary of issues that most impact our clients, many of whom are drug and medical device …

    • What to Do When You Receive a DEA Order to Show CauseNovember 16th, 2017

      You may be a doctor, dentist, veterinarian, pharmacy, wholesale distributor, or manufacturer, and you just received an Order to Show Cause from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). An Order to Show Cause can have a significant impact on your ability to handle controlled substances and, …

    • Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Off-Label Promotion FCA Case for Lack of Rule 9(b) SpecificityNovember 6th, 2017

      The Sixth Circuit recently dealt another blow to relators seeking damages under the False Claims Act (FCA) based on allegations of off-label promotion. In a 2-1 decision, the court, in United States ex rel. Ibanez v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., affirmed the district court’s dismissal of …

    • Judicial Efficiency: DEA’s Expanding Use of Summary Dispositions to Narrow the Opportunity for an Administrative HearingOctober 15th, 2017

      There is a long history and established precedent in Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) administrative cases in the use of summary dispositions (i.e., determination without a hearing) related to the loss of state licensing authority (e.g., state medical or controlled substance license) (see our previous post …

    • Court Deals Blow to Mysteriously Named Whistleblower, and Blows off PrecedentSeptember 27th, 2017

      Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed a qui tam complaint filed against Medtronic and its subsidiaries alleging violations of the False Claims Act (FCA).  The relator (an LLC named “The Dan Abrams Company LLC” formed by a former …

    • Fifth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment for Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Off-Label and Anti-Kickback FCA CaseSeptember 20th, 2017

      It is the False Claims Act (FCA) case that wouldn’t die. The complaint in United States ex rel. King v. Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was originally filed in 2006 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Through a series of partial summary …

    • Celgene Pays $280m in False Claims Act Case in Which U.S. Did Not InterveneAugust 1st, 2017

      The Department of Justice announced on July 24, 2017, that Celgene agreed, without admitting liability, to pay a total of $280 million to settle a qui tam case relating to two of its drug products, Thalomid® and Revlimid®. The qui tam complaint filed in the …

    • A Call to Duty: DEA Practitioner Registrants Beware—DEA Wants You!July 10th, 2017

      Individual practitioners represent more than ninety percent of the approximately 1.6 million DEA registrants. We believe it fair to say that of all the types of DEA registrants (e.g., manufacturers, distributors, importers, etc.), individual practitioners have less opportunity to read the Federal Register for notices …