Australian companies in U.S. 'whistleblower' litigation

1. According to U.S. ABC News on 6 September 2011 Alphapharm P/L, an Australian subsidiary of multinational Mylan Inc, is accused of defrauding the American Government:

Three generic drugmakers are being accused in a whistleblower lawsuit of scheming to overcharge the government by tens of millions of dollars for medicines.

The U.S. Attorney's office on Tuesday joined in the lawsuit, brought by Chicago pharmacist Bernard Lisitza.

His attorneys alleged in a 162-page complaint unsealed Tuesday afternoon that Par Pharmaceuticals Companies Inc. of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., and two foreign generic drugmakers overcharged the Medicaid program by getting pharmacies to dispense different, more-expensive, dosage forms than what was prescribed.

Attorneys Michael Behn and Linda Wyetzner said the three companies got pharmacies to illegally switch from generic versions of Prozac and Zantac to Par's more costly products so it could charge Medicaid more.

The other defendants are sister companies, Alphapharm PTY Ltd. of Australia and Canada's Genpharm ULC, both accused of helping to run the scheme and manufacture or procure the medicines.

The lawsuits are listed as UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex rel. BERNARD LISITZA, States ex rel. BERNARD LISITZA, and BERNARD LISITZA, individually v. PAR PHARMACEUTICALS, et al - Northern District of Illinois, 06 C 6131.

The San Francisco Chronicle on 6 September reported that; The U.S. didn't join the suit against the Mylan units.

Mr. Lisitza has a history of successfully bringing whistle blower suits against drug companies.

If this entry below is correct then a Bernard Lisitza of Illinois appears to have a less well-known background:

Bernard Lisitza, Northbrook and Itasca Prescription Pharmacy, Northbrook – pharmacist license

(051-025359) of Lisitza indefinitely suspended for a minimum of nine months, and Itasca Prescription

Pharmacy license (054-003249) and controlled substance license revoked, due to a felony conviction in federal

court for purchasing and trading a prescription drug; purchasing drugs that did not have intact safety seals,

manufacturers’ boxes and packaging inserts with the intent of reselling the drugs to the public; and, filling

prescriptions for patients in nursing homes by placing in blister packages misbranded drugs that were

manufactured in Mexico and not approved for distribution in the United States.

2. OC Weekly on 9 September 2011 reported that the U.S. arm of the Australian company manufacturing NADS is in the firing line in Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2011-00497156, in what appears to be a counter suit to Sue Ismiel and Daughters US Inc v. Robert Spetner et al which accuses the defendant of mail tampering:

This is SI&D response to the lawsuit alleging that it fired a company executive when he encouraged SI&D to issue a U.S. recall notice for a known defective product, Nad’s Body Hair Removal Strips:

"In response to legal action initiated by SI&D (US) Inc against its former president, Robert Spetner, due to his wrongfully having seized control of the Company's mail, Mr. Spetner has filed a cross-complaint in which he groundlessly and falsely alleges that he was terminated because he had engaged in "whistle blowing" and presented other meritless claims against the Company. SI&D categorically denies these allegations and will defend them vigorously. In point of fact, the Company appropriately terminated him due to poor performance and serious misconduct that directly benefitted him at the expense of the Company and it is our intention to pursue further legal action against Mr. Spetner in this regard.

The substantive issues raised in Mr. Spetner's complaint are riddled with factual errors and outright misrepresentations that stand in stark contrast to our 14-year record of conducting an ethical and successful business in the United States that is founded on providing our customers and retail partners with great products and excellent service. Contrary to the tenor of Mr Spetner's complaint, we are proud to endorse the quality and efficacy of our award-winning range of Nad's depiliatory products that are available at leading retailers throughout the US, Great Britain and Australia/New Zealand.

As this matter is currently the subject of litigation, we have been advised by counsel to limit further public comment on this matter pending its legal resolution."

Coincidentally the ACCC published an Australian recall notice for Batch 10642 of Nad's Brazilian and Bikini Wax on 3 August 2011.