The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (www.ktmc.com) announced today that BioTek reMedys, a nationwide specialty pharmacy, and its CEO, Chaitanya Gadde, have agreed to settle a qui tam lawsuit and pay the United States government $20 million in connection with alleged violations of the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Kessler Topaz represented the whistleblowers who reported the alleged conduct. The qui tam lawsuit was filed in 2019 and the United States intervened in 2021.
The settlement resolves allegations that BioTek and Gadde operated a company-wide scheme to defraud Medicare by inducing, through unlawful kickbacks, the ordering and referral of drugs and infusion services. BioTek and Gadde were alleged to have enticed Medicare beneficiaries to select its expensive specialty pharmaceutical products by routinely waiving patient cost-sharing balances under Medicare’s prescription drug benefit (Part D). The Complaint further alleged that kickbacks, including meals, gifts, and free practice management and clinical support services, were paid to preferred physicians in order to induce patient referrals.
The qui tam suit was filed under the False Claims Act, which encourages private citizens to fight fraud against the government by bringing a whistleblower lawsuit. If the government joins the lawsuit, the whistleblower may receive a monetary reward of between 15 and 25 percent of the recovery. Here, the whistleblowers were awarded 20 percent of the recovery.
“This case reaffirms the critical role that conscientious whistleblowers can play. Our clients courageously stepped forward and we are proud to have represented them,” said David Bocian, a former federal prosecutor and head of Kessler Topaz’s Whistleblower and False Claims Act Litigation practice group. Bocian and Kessler Topaz Counsel, Asher Alavi, whose practice is dedicated to whistleblower representation, credited the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia for their outstanding work on the case and for protecting the Medicare system from fraud and abuse.
The case is captioned United States of America ex rel. Wyatt et al. v. BioTek reMEDys, Inc., No. 19-6069 (E.D. Pa.).
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Kessler Topaz specializes in the prosecution of complex litigation on a contingent basis, litigating matters against the largest multi-national corporations and the most sophisticated defense firms. Since the Firm’s founding it has recovered billions of dollars for its clients, developed a worldwide reputation for success, and repeatedly been named as one of the nation’s most prominent plaintiffs’ firms.
Kessler Topaz’s Whistleblower and False Claims Act Litigation practice group includes former federal and state prosecutors with extensive experience litigating health care, securities, corporate and government contract fraud and attorneys who dedicate their practice to representing whistleblowers. The practice group is run by Partner, David Bocian and Counsel, Asher Alavi.