Whistleblower for off label promo

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Just about ready to sign an offer letter with a new company and drop the bomb on these corrupt assholes. Gutting my Q3 bonus and completely screwing over my friends you unceremoniously dumped in October was the last straw. Been building a case for weeks on my previous ASD and DM on how they force us to promote off label.
 












Anonymous said:
Again, we in management laugh at you, we will use shareholder money to pay for
our lawyers, whose money will you use little man?
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None. Dont need to pay for anything except postage to send a box of stuff to the OIG. We in sales laugh at you as we already have new jobs and you will end up spending the best years of your lives making license plates
 












I always find it interesting that some people only get a conscious about right/wrong when they are terminated or leaving their job. If you were told to sell off label then you should have reported it right away.
 






















































it was reported, and investigated and the manager was not even slapped on the wrist. A single phone call from Lurch, the corporate compliance troll, and then he went right back to selling off label.
 












I do not work for Amarin, but wanted to offer some advice if you are seriously considering filing a whistle blower case. First choose your lawyer carefully. There are many lawyers lacking the legal expertise in filing Qui Tam cases. Once you go down this path whether you are successful or not, you will most likely be black balled from the pharma industry. Here's how it works.

If the legal firm representing you files a complaint with the federal government, your case will be sealed while they investigate. This is supposed to take a couple of months, but often it can take a couple of years. After their investigation, the case becomes unsealed and the feds decide whether they want to take the lead on the case or not. If the government takes the lead, 99% of pharma companies will settle the case rather than fight it in court. The risk of losing reimbursement in medicare/medicaid, jail time, etc. is too risky for pharma companies. The whistleblower (relator) gets 10-15% of the settlement (lawyers usually take 40% of the relator's share). Fed take the lead on only 20% of the cases they investigate.

If the federal government decides not take the lead, the legal firm can still pursue the case on their own. This is a big risk and the legal cost for the law firm go up. Without the Federal government's help these cases are not as easy to win. If you win, the feds still get the money, but your share goes up to 20-25%. Most law firms drop out if the feds decide not to get involved.

Whether a qui tam case is pursued or not in the courts, once the feds wrap up their initial investigation and unseal the case, your name will be listed as the relator. So a google or background check will probably show you tried to file a whistle blower case.

So how does the feds decide what cases to pursue? Like everyone else they are looking for the easiest case to win with the most dollars involved. Whether the fine is $15 million or $500 million, the amount of investigation they do is probably the same. For off label cases that usually these off label claims to cause false claims to medicare/medicaid. In other words, doctors wrote prescriptions for conditions that the drugs were not indicated to treat and medicare/medicaid paid money. There is a multiplier to those damages for penalties, but the key is blockbuster drugs usually have more damages and the opportunity for bigger fines.

Keep in mind that the penalty is for claims that were false. So if 90% of the scripts were on label and 10% were off label, only the 10% would be eligible for the fines and penalties.

So back to Amarin. If Vascepa has low sales, the likelihood of the feds joining case or probably slim. The dollars just aren't there. There may be lawyers willing to take a case, but some just file the case and hope the feds take the case. If not, no loss on their part. However, once the case is unsealed you will be known as a whistleblower the rest of your career. This is worth if if you get millions in return. If not, it may make it difficult to get a job in the future.

So make sure if you want to pursue a whistleblower case and make sure the firm that represents you specializes in these case. If they do, they will give you better advice on whether this is solid case or not. Best of luck.
 












Anonymous said:
I am curious what other disease states are reps promoting Vascepa for that would be considered off label? I am not an Amarin employee but take Vascepa and am curious.
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I assume they mean for trigs less than 500 or the Anchor indication. I have talked with numerous reps who are doing well and I don't think they are selling it there or any other indication.

Honestly I think some of the reps here just like to bitch and complain because they aren't doing very well. Some areas certainly do better because of managed care but there are a few reps that just know how to get it done (Not saying that's me). I'm happy for them, jealous and try to learn from them.
 






Anonymous said:
I assume they mean for trigs less than 500 or the Anchor indication. I have talked with numerous reps who are doing well and I don't think they are selling it there or any other indication.

Honestly I think some of the reps here just like to bitch and complain because they aren't doing very well. Some areas certainly do better because of managed care but there are a few reps that just know how to get it done (Not saying that's me). I'm happy for them, jealous and try to learn from them.
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If it's not covered, its not covered

Doesn't matter who you are
 






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