False Claims Act Update & Alert
	Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund | Washington, D.C. | WWW.TAF.ORG           November 12, 2008
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		Subscribe to this FREE Newsletter Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz n TAF Home Page n Previous Newsletters n Email editor   Please take a moment to forward this FREE electronic newsletter to others that might be interested!	FY 2008 FCA Statistics The U.S. Department of Justice reports they secured $1.34 billion in settlements and judgments in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2008, but the actual number is actually much higher than that.  Why the lower number?  Simple:  for statistical purposes, the DoJ does not count the money won in settlements that is subsequently handed over to the states, nor does it count criminal penalties.  These can quickly add up.  For example, in the DoJ's recent release, they count the Merck FCA recovery at $361.5 million even though the DoJ's own press release says the total was $650 million. In the Cephalon case, DoJ reports a $375 million recovery even though the DoJ's own press release says the total was $425 million.  In the Staten Island University Hospital case, DoJ reports $74 million while the press reports the full figure of over $88 million which includes the recovery to the state. The DoJ's most recent press release list the CVS False Claims Act case as a $21 million recovery, even though their earlier press release put the figure at $37 million. So how much money did the False Claims Act actually return last year according to our records?  A little over $2 billion.
			Taxpayers Pay for Both Sides of Wall Street Fiasco When Uncle Sam took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they not only inherited bad debts; they also inherited the legal costs of representing executives who are at the heart of the housing market's collapse.  How is that possible?  Simple:  like many large companies, Fannie May and Freddie Mac had contracts that promised to cover the legal bills of their executives. >>  To read more
			Vytorin in 35-state Off-Label Investigation DoJ and 35 state Attorney Generals offices are investigating whether Merck and Schering-Plough improperly promoted the cholesterol drug Vytorin.  Merck says it has received five “civil investigative demands” from a multistate group so far.  >> To read more