On August 3, 2022, a jury found Eli Lilly liable for underpaying rebates under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and ordered the company to pay more than $61 million in damages. The lawsuit was initially brought by a former executive of a network of regional drug wholesalers under the False Claims Act, so the company is liable for treble damages, resulting in a $183 million final judgment, plus claim penalties.
The whistleblower brought the lawsuit against Eli Lilly in 2014 alleging that the company implemented retroactive price increases on its drugs and improperly failed to pay Medicaid rebates on the higher drug prices from 2005 to 2016, shortchanging the federal government by more than half a billion dollars. The whistleblower put forth evidence that Eli Lilly’s calculations and related certifications about the “Average Manufacturers Price” were factually and legally false.
In 2018, the United States government declined to intervene and the whistleblower and his attorneys proceeded with the litigation. Over the course of litigation, the whistleblower and his counsel defeated two motions to dismiss: one by Eli Lilly and another by Astellas Pharma U.S., another defendant.
A spokesperson for Eli Lilly said the company “is committed to upholding high standards of corporate conduct in our business dealings. We are obviously disappointed with the jury’s verdict and we are confident that Lilly will ultimately prevail in this case. We will be seeking to vacate the jury’s verdict and for judgment to be entered in Lilly’s favor.”
Whistleblower Winning Streak
The judgment against Eli Lilly is the most recent “win” for this whistleblower, who previously achieved a $75 million settlement with Bristol Myers Squibb, an $18 million settlement with Astellas Pharma U.S., a $46.5 million settlement with AstraZeneca, and a $7.5 million settlement with Cephalon, Inc.. The whistleblower has collectively recovered more than $350 million for the Medicaid program.
Dan Miller of Walden Macht & Haran served as the whistleblower’s counsel in all of the qui tam cases. Miller commented on the decision, saying, “The jury has spoken. Eli Lilly knowingly violated the False Claims Act and defrauded the Medicaid Program of $61 million in taxpayer money. We took on one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and one of the largest law firms in the world, and we won. We are very proud to represent [the whistleblower] in this quest, which began more than eight years ago.”