PHILADELPHIA, July 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Reckitt
Benckiser Group PLC and Reckitt Benckiser LLC (collectively
"Reckitt") announced that they have agreed to pay $1.4 billion to resolve allegations made by the
United States Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission,
and in multiple whistleblower lawsuits that Reckitt defrauded
Medicare, Medicaid and other government funded healthcare programs
in connection with its marketing practices for Suboxone tablet and
Suboxone film, both of which are opioid dependence treatment
regimens.
"Our client identified the serious issues implicated by the
Suboxone marketing campaign very early on, and was the first to
bring a whistleblower action to alert the Government," stated
Tavy Deming of Kenney McCafferty. Kenney McCafferty represents whistleblower Dr.
Stefan P. Kruszewski, a prominent
psychiatrist in the Harrisburg
area who specializes in addiction treatment. The $1.4 billion settlement resolves allegations
brought by Dr. Kruszewski under the False Claim Act's qui
tam provisions. Dr. Kruszewski's complaint remains under
seal as of the settlement announcement pending the Government's
forthcoming intervention as per the terms of the Settlement
Agreement announced by the Department of Justice today.
According to Dr. Kruszewski, "Due to my specialty in treating
addiction, I became a target of Suboxone marketing." Dr.
Kruszewski became concerned when he witnessed Suboxone, which is
itself an opioid based drug, being marketed as a nonaddictive drug
that didn't cause euphoria and was safe to prescribe for
pain. "I knew I had to take action when local and national
colleagues began to promote and prescribe Suboxone on the basis
that Suboxone was a safe and nonaddictive miracle drug," says Dr.
Kruszewski.
"I have treated, and I continue to treat patients every day who
suffer from Suboxone's serious side effects. In my clinical
experience, the withdrawal effects from Suboxone can be extreme. I
do believe, however, that Suboxone tablet and film have a
significant role to play in medication assisted addiction regimens
so long as the drugs are marketed and prescribed responsibly."
"Our client was the canary in the coal mine many years ago
warning of the dangers associated with medication based treatment
regimens for opioid abuse. Thanks to the exhaustive and tireless
investigation into those allegations by federal and state
prosecutors, most notably Assistant Director Edward Crooke of the Department of Justice Civil
Fraud Section and California Assistant Attorney General
Nicholas Paul, we believe the
marketing of Suboxone is much safer today," stated Brian Kenney.
ABOUT KENNEY McCAFFERTY Kenney & McCafferty, PC is the one
of the most successful law firms specializing in representing qui
tam whistleblowers nationwide. Kenney
McCafferty has helped to recover billions of dollars back to
the U.S Treasury in massive whistleblower-initiated cases filed
against Olympus, GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Amedisys, Johnson &
Johnson, Omnicare, CareSource, Cephalon, and AstraZeneca, among
others.
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SOURCE Kenney & McCafferty, P.C.