Jury Orders Eli Lilly to Pay $61 Million in Damages for Defrauding Federal Medicaid Program

Total judgment to exceed $183 million

CHICAGO, Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A jury has ordered Eli Lilly and Company to pay over $61 million in damages eight years after whistleblower Ronald J. Streck filed a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that the pharmaceutical company underpaid the rebates required of drug manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. Under the False Claims Act, damages are trebled and the final judgment will be over $183 million.

Dan Miller of Walden Macht & Haran, lead counsel to Streck, said, "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 Mr. Streck in this quest, which began more than eight years ago."

The $61 million award is the latest in Streck's series of successful False Claims Act lawsuits against drug manufacturers for alleged misconduct involving the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, including a $75 million settlement with Bristol Myers Squibb and an $18 million settlement with Astellas Pharma U.S. last year. Collectively, Streck's lawsuits have recovered more than $350 million for the Medicaid program. Miller has represented Mr. Streck across all of his whistleblowing cases.

The Department of Justice announced the settlement agreements regarding Streck's previous claims with Bristol Myers Squibb in 2021, Astellas Pharma and Amgen in 2019 and with AstraZeneca and Cephalon in 2015.

In 2018, when the government declined to intervene, Streck and his attorneys proceeded to litigation against Eli Lilly. These efforts include successfully defeating two motions to dismiss in 2018 by defendants Eli Lilly and Astellas Pharma U.S.

Today's decision marks the thirteenth previously-declined False Claims Act case that Walden Macht & Haran partner Miller has successfully prosecuted on behalf of the federal and state governments.

The case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Ronald Streck et al. v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. No. 1:14-cv-09412 and proceeded in the Northern District of Illinois.

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