2025 Whistleblower of the Year
During its 25th Annual Conference, The Anti-Fraud Coalition bestowed the Whistleblower of the Year Award to Dr. Paul Bellman. Dr. Bellman put his personal integrity and patient health above all else and had tremendous courage in bringing down an outrageous kickback scheme perpetrated by Gilead Sciences.
This award recognizes a whistleblower who achieved outstanding results, overcame especially challenging circumstances, and/or brought change to an industry through their incredible efforts in the last year.
Dr. Paul Bellman devoted his career to the care and treatment of patients with HIV/AIDS from the beginning of the epidemic. Until his retirement in 2013, he ran his own medical practice in New York City, treating and caring for thousands of individuals with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Bellman became an expert in HIV treatment, conducting dozens of clinical trials and publishing countless articles on his research.
In 2011, Gilead Sciences began selling “once-daily” anti-retroviral medications and began marketing the drugs to providers around the country. Dr. Bellman began noticing the effects of Gilead’s marketing campaigns on his colleagues in New York City. His colleagues received thousands of dollars in speaker fees, food, paid travel, and other perks linked to issuing prescriptions for Gilead’s drugs. This scheme not only inflated costs for treatment which harmed government payer programs, it also placed patients at risk by replacing safe drug treatments with expensive new drugs that had proven harmful side effects.
Dr. Bellman came forward to ensure that HIV/AIDS patients had access to the best course of treatment without the corrupting influence of kickbacks. Dr. Bellman brought not only passion to the qui tam process, but a wealth of expertise and experience used to untangle complex medical jargon and nuances of the case. Dr. Bellman’s dedication to the pursuit of justice and assistance was indispensable in the case against Gilead. In 2017, Dr. Bellman dedicated at least 20 hours each week to reviewing documents, drafting reports on his findings, and urging his legal team to explore new facets of the fraud. Over the course of the case, he devoted hundreds of hours to studying, analyzing, and summarizing evidence, providing insights that were essential to both resolving the matter and uncovering the full extent of the damages. His persistence, even in light of reluctance from the government to expand the scope of its investigation, ultimately helped uncover the broader scope of Gilead’s scheme and contributed to several admissions in the settlement agreement.
Throughout this case, Dr. Bellman remained a steadfast advocate in the face of changing presidential administrations, government staff turnover, and more. After a decade of litigation, the qui tam settled for $202 million . Dr. Bellman’s unshakable passion for his patients and a fiery commitment to shine a light on Gilead’s schemes are the embodiment of speaking truth to power so essential in whistleblowing.
“Dr. Paul Bellman’s decade-long fight to expose corruption and prioritize patient safety over profits stands as a testament to the power of integrity and the indispensable role of whistleblowers in protecting public health,” said Jacklyn DeMar, the President and CEO of The Anti-Fraud Coalition, “it was an honor to meet him and hear his story.”
Award Nomination Process
The Whistleblower of the Year Award and others are nominated by the general membership of The Anti-Fraud Coalition before the organization’s annual conference.
Once submitted, The Anti-Fraud Coalition’s Conference & Member Education Committee deliberate and vote on award recipients.
