Johnson & Johnson was also on the paying end recently in Texas. Final approval was given recently by the court to a $158 million settlement between Texas and a subsidiary of the health care giant. This settlement was in a Medicaid fraud lawsuit filed in federal court and it also includes the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. The agreement, reached during a January trial, settled a lawsuit that alleged J&J and its subsidiaries were guilty of fraud by false or misleading statements about the safety, cost and effectiveness of the drug.

The lawsuit was filed by a whistleblower, Allen Jones, who worked as an inspector for the Pennsylvania Office of Inspector General. He was fired from his job in his home state because he complained about what was going on there. He successfully sued there. Texas will receive 40% and the federal government will get 31% of the settlement. The whistleblower gets 17% with 12% going as attorneys’ fees. Tom Melsheimer, a lawyer with Fish & Richardson, who is in the firm’s Dallas office, represented Mr. Jones in this lawsuit and did a very good job.

Source: Insurance Journal