Whistleblower Law Blog : Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : LaBovick Law Firm, Florida : Federal False Claims Act, Qui Tam

Readers,

Does it smell bad? It smells very bad to me. What smells bad? The administration of our country is what smells bad. 

I just read the August 1, 2007 Washington Post Article by Amy Goldstein and Carrie Johnson. The article, "U.S. Attorney Became Target After Rebuffing Justice Dept" talks about how an Assistant U.S. Attorney, John L. Brownlee, while prosecuting the OxyContin case was called by Michael J. Elston, the chief of staff to the Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty (read Alberto Gonzales underling) the night before the plea deal and was instructed to "slow down" the prosecution. Mr. Brownlee, boldly, did not listen to those instructions and went forward with the prosecution.

Interesting. A few weeks ago, I blogged on Presidential hopeful, Rudy Giuliani, being the dealmaker for Purdue Pharma, the multi-billion dollar company who manufactured Oxy. Recently company executives were sentenced for defrauding the government but avoided the real punishment of significant jail time. We all know that rich people get to avoid criminal prosecution whenever possible. I am sure having a presidential hopeful as your lawyer and a president as you buddy didn't hurt.

According to the article, someone had enough influence and power to actually get to an Assistant U.S. Attorney's superior office, have them call the poor US Attorney the night before he concludes the biggest case of his life and try and stall or kill the prosecution. I know that is no longer shocking. But it should be!

We applaud the work of the bold and good Mr. Brownlee, but what was his reward? Somehow his name was on a November 1 list of Assistant US Attorneys who were recommended for dismissal. That seems logical. Let's dismiss the guy who just prosecuted a huge pharma company and worked his tail off and helped recover $635 million for the government. Why would Mr. Gonzales want to dismiss Mr. Brownlee? Maybe because he was pushing to prosecute the President of United State's buddies? I criticized the deal as too lenient. I think the public needed to see real justice and retribution by having the evildoing executives go to jail. I am betting the Administration felt it came far too fast and was far too costly.

I guess, as a lawyer, I am imprinted with the feeling that our justice system (one of the best and most fair systems in the world) is the third leg of American Government. The American way of life depends on the judicial system running as an independent entity free of political manipulation. Certainly there have always been attempts to manipulate the Judiciary. But this administration has made a full out frontal attack on the entire Judicial System. They attack the civil system by trying to stop civil lawsuits. They propagandize the American public that they need to stop the "greedy trial lawyers" at the small guys expense. Big corporations, big drug companies and big insurance companies can continue to hurt the little guy and this Administration could not be happier. Now they are fully attacking the criminal justice system. They are directly and intentionally interfering with criminal prosecutions. I do not trust any of their motives. Purdue Pharma plead guilty to hurting and killing and defrauding the public and the government. They got away with a $635 million dollar slap on the wrist. I know that sounds like a lot of money, but when your liberty is at steak, it is just money. I promise they will make more. It should be criminal for the Administration to interfere and attempt to stop even that from happening. It makes me imagine how much money and fraud is not being prosecuted in the multi-BILLION dollar contracts to the Iraq multi-national companies.

This is just another bad smell reeking from the bowels of an administration mired in the muck of just being bad to the core. Bad at administrating. Bad at being transparent with the public. Bad at caring for the country. Bad at making international policy. Bad at dealing with prisoners of war. Bad for the environment. Just bad for America. It is just so very bad.

Sick and signing off.
Brian

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It is finished... Purdue Pharma Executives were sentenced by Federal Judge James P. Jones, yesterday in Virginia. Judge Jones sentenced the three top executives of Purdue Pharma to three years’ probation and 400 hours each of community service in drug treatment programs. The New York Times reported that Judge Jones was "troubled by his inability to send the executives to prison. The  federal prosecutors had not produced evidence as part of recent plea deals to show that the officials were aware of wrongdoing at the drug’s maker".

One thing that this sentencing does not do, is bring back the loved ones of the families that have been hurt by OxyContin. One valiant crusader in the fight against OxyContin abuse is Ed Bisch. He is a father that lost an 18 year old son, due to a drug overdose of this drug in 2001. In a quest to shed light on the devastating affects of "Oxy" as the teens called it, the day after his died from it, he started the website www.Oxyabusekills.com. He dedicated the www.Oxyabusekills.com site in memory of his son 18 yearold son Eddie Bisch. His goal is to bring awareness on how easy it is to overdose on Oxycontin (Oxy) and the dangers of prescription drug abuse. He deserves a round of applause for his efforts to bring the awareness to this nationwide public-health crisis. He took on the giant Pharma company to wage a public campaign with the simple, yet powerful message "this stuff is killing our kids, we have to do something".  This brave dad, Ed Bisch, took a tragedy  (the loss of his 18 year old son ) and has made it his mission to help save the lives and to educate the public before it is too late.

At the Purdue Sentencing on Friday, there were several loved ones and family members who lost loved ones due to OxyContin.  I am sure that you could feel the emotions in the courtroom. According to the Rhode Island news, Victor DelRegno, a dad who last his son Andrew, age 20, to OxyContin drug overdose in 2002, was one of  the witnesses that made a statement the sentencing. Prior to the sentencing Victot DeRegno is quoted as asking “What should the true cost for justice be?”  This is a question that will remain in the minds of several people, for years to come.

Where do we go from here on the war against OxyContin abuse and other prescription drugs? What will it take for pharma companies, such as Purdue Pharma, to be honest about the dangers of their drugs? Creation of public awareness campaigns, with real people like Ed Bisch, Victor DeRegno and others sharing their stories to the community at large.  It would be great if all of the Pharma companies would fund a non-profit group that educated the public on the dangers of prescription drug abuse. One that encourages participation from family members that have lost loved ones. This would be a good start for the pharma companies to show they are serious about being a good corporate citizen. Not to say, their charitable donations already being give to communities are not enough. But rather, showing  commitment to the fight against prescription drug abuse and all the damage that it does by taking lives, loss to families and communities.

Click Here to read more of this story from the New York Times, NewsDay, Money Times, Rhode Island News

The Whistleblower Law Blog is presented as a service of the Private Law Firm, LaBovick & LaBovick, P.A., Civil Justice Prosecutors. LaBovick & LaBovick is a Plaintiff's firm that represents whistleblowers in Florida and throughout the United States in qui tam (False Claims Act) litigation

 

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It troubles me that Rudy Giuliani is defending the bad guys at Purdue Pharma. I am almost ready to start preaching on a soapbox about the topic of Presidential election politics and the candidates. Until now I have remained silent on this issue because I feel like the entire group continues to spout off about "non" issue positions. They are giving us dialogue that means nothing. (Lets put aside the voting stances related to the Immigration Bill and the recent vote to fund the troops, since I think the actual voting position will mean much more than their political rhetoric.)

I enjoy listening to Rudy Giuliani, the most, out of all the candidates. He is direct, plain spoken and seems accessible. I think that this is what made him a great prosecutor. Not long ago Rudy helped put away the bad guys. Mr. Giuliani’s reputation was that of a hard-core prosecutor. A punisher of criminal behavior. As a candidate for the Presidency, his employment history encourages me about what Mr. Giuliani will do for America. I venture to say, it makes me feel like I understand him because I understand his passion.

Since he is now running for President, I expected him to continue on this path. But that does not seem like it will happen. Presidential campaigns cost enormous amounts of money and requires candidates to have several friends with money, to run for President. Keeping those "monied" friends out of jail would help gather the funds necessary to run for the President's Office.

There is no doubt that the drug OxyContin has ruined many lives. There is no question that the owner and executives at Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, was guilty of fraud in how they marketed the drug. Their flagrant behavior caused the government to prosecute both the individuals and the company itself. The Judge fined the company $634.5 million dollars after the company's chief executives (Michael Friedman, the company’s president; Howard R. Udell, its top lawyer; and Dr. Paul D. Goldenheim, its former medical director) plead GUILTY to criminal charges of misleading doctors and patients about the drug.

Fortunately, the company could ask their good friend and counsel, Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, to negotiate a plea deal for these poor executives. Purdue Pharma is a client of Bracewell & Giuliani, which is Mr. Giuliani's law firm based in Houston. The lead government attorney, John L. Brownlee, the United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia, described Mr. Giuliani's role as a central role in the talks with federal prosecutors. "...He was the lead counsel and the lead spokesman for the company,” Mr. Brownlee said.

Rudy Giuliani, the man who was hard on criminals, made a plea deal for his clients, which did not include any jail time. It only included some fines and penalties. 

As a former government attorney, I understand representing both sides of a case. Don't get me wrong. I understand why an attorney can be a prosecutor one day and be a defense attorney the next. In this fine profession we all understand the dichotomy of our job. It exists for every litigation attorney. One day you represent the Seller and then next day the Buyer. One day you rep the company and then next day you rep the worker. That is what we do. But there is something different about representing the Government then the next day representing the Criminals. There is something wrong with flipping sides to defend criminals and at the same time be in the midst of a campaign to be President of the USA.

Rudy Giuliani, who forever has stood up for the little guy, has turned his back on Justice for the sake of representing rich folks who can donate more money to his political aspirations.

In Presidential politics money can make a principled prosecutor change his spots.

Sad, Indeed.

Brian
Stepping off my soapbox.

Click Here to read more from an article in the New York Times

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