U.S. Supreme Court gives boost to whistleblowers in drug pricing case

  • 📰 Reuters
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 40 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 19%
  • Publisher: 97%

Law Law Headlines News

Law Law Latest News,Law Law Headlines

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave a boost to whistleblowers in their bid to revive lawsuits accusing pharmacy operators of knowingly overbilling government health insurance programs for prescription drugs at taxpayers' expense.

At issue was whether companies can avoid liability for fraud by showing that an "objectively reasonable" reading of the law supported their conduct - regardless of whether they truly believed that interpretation at the time of their alleged wrongdoing.

The whistleblowers, seeking monetary damages, accused the companies of offering prescription drugs at discounted prices to most customers paying out of pocket, while improperly charging higher rates to the government. Government healthcare programs reimburse pharmacies for dispensing covered drugs to beneficiaries.

Whistleblower Thomas Proctor sued Safeway while whistleblowers Tracy Schutte and Michael Yarberry sued SuperValu. The whistleblowers said federal law requires pharmacies to bill the Medicare and Medicaid programs the same prices it charged the general public under a rate known as a pharmacy's "usual and customary" price. They also said both companies knew they were defrauding the government and worked to conceal their pricing practices.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 2. in LAW

Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t trigger property tax break, Colorado Supreme Court rulesThe justices found that the COVID-19 pandemic was not an “act of nature” that would allow property owners to seek re-assessment of their property values outside of the normal two-year property tax assessment cycle,
Source: denverpost - 🏆 13. / 72 Read more »

Supreme Court just shriveled protection for wetlands, leaving many of these valuable ecosystems at risk | OpinionFor the last 45 years the EPA and the Corps have required discharge permits in wetlands “adjacent” to water bodies, even if a dune, levee or other barrier separated the two. The Sackett decision upends that approach.
Source: PennLive - 🏆 463. / 53 Read more »

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear bid to sue Reddit over child pornThe U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a bid by child pornography victims to overcome a legal shield for internet companies in a case involving a lawsuit accusing Reddit Inc of violating federal law by failing to rid the discussion website of this illegal content.
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »

Supreme Court Turns Down Lawsuit Blaming Reddit for Child PornA former minor and parents of minors joined forces to sue Reddit in a California federal court in 2021, accusing Reddit of failing to remove sexually exploitative content and profiting off the posts.
Source: thedailybeast - 🏆 307. / 63 Read more »

Supreme Court rejects case against Reddit over child porn, sex traffickingThe Supreme Court on Tuesday declined a chance to strike a blow to the legal shield protecting Big Tech in a case against Reddit over child pornography allegations.
Source: WashTimes - 🏆 235. / 63 Read more »

US Supreme Court spurns ex-Shkreli lawyer Greebel's challenge to prosecutorsThe U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a bid by a New York lawyer to restrict how much money federal prosecutors can take from his 401(k) retirement accounts to compensate fraud victims after he was convicted in a scheme involving former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli.
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »