Texas Lawyers Blog

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The Texas Lawyers Blog provides useful information on the law and Texas lawyers. For more information on this Blog or a legal topic, please feel free to submit an inquiry or send an e-mail message to blog@texaslawyers.com

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Pradaxa Lawsuit Information: Excessive Bleeding From Pradaxa Has No Antidote and Can Cause Death by Texas Pradaxa Lawyer Jason Coomer

Pradaxa Lawsuit Information: The Blood Thinner Pradaxa Can Cause Excessive Bleeding and Has No Known Antidote or Reversal Agent Which Can Cause Death in Patients Taking the Blood Thinner by Texas Pradaxa Lawyer Jason Coomer

Pradaxa has been marketed as a new and improved blood thinner to replace existing successful blood thinners.  Pradaxa has the usual side effects and health risks of other blood thinners which includes excessive bleeding.  However, unlike older blood thinners, Pradaxa has two important differences: 

  • Pradaxa has no known reversal agent or antidote, and
  • There is no standard method with which to measure the anticoagulant effects of Pradaxa.

These key differences can cause persons on Pradaxa to experience a build up or overdose of the drug, excessive bleeding, and ultimately the person's death.  For more information on this topic, please feel free to send an e-mail message to Pradaxa Lawyer, Jason Coomer.

Pradaxa Has Been Marketed As A New And Improved Blood Thinner That Has Been Added To Numerous Hospital Formularies As An Established Blood Thinner Allowing Pradaxa To Rapidly Gain Market Share and Expanding Its Use

Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) is a direct thrombin inhibitor anticoagulant, which became FDA-approved on October 29, 2010. Pradaxa reduces the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Pradaxa is being marketed to be prescribed and used to replace existing successful blood thinners such as Warfarin (Coumadin).  Within the first seven months after Pradaxa's approval, more than 250,000 patients were prescribed Pradaxa.  In July 2011, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BIPI) announced that Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) capsules had been added to hospital formularies at 49 of the top 50 cardiology and heart surgery hospitals in the United States.  In other words Pradaxa was added as the blood thinner of choice in formularies that insure about 90 percent of covered lives in the U.S.

Boehringer Ingelheim has successfully marketed Pradaxa as an improvement over other blood thinners.  However, Pradaxa has already led to hundreds of reports of deaths and many other serious life-threatening injuries.

Large Drug Companies That Influence Standards of Care Including Hospital Formularies Through Marketing Fraud and Fraudulent Research Can Be Held Liable For Medicaid Fraud and Medicare Fraud Through Whistleblower Reward Lawsuits

Many health care professions have become aware of the strong influence that drug companies now have in determining community standards of care for medication use in patients.  These drug companies often push drug samples into many hospitals and use powerful forms of manipulation including biased research, influencing key medical doctors, and kickbacks to get their drugs placed on hospital formularies.

Whistleblowers that are the first to file on these fraudulent practices can expose fraud and obtain large whistleblower rewards for exposing fraud. These medical professionals and pharmaceutical professionals can also have a drug formulary fraud whistleblower reward lawyer confidentially review a potential case prior to stepping forward.  For more information on Drug Formulary Fraud Whistleblower Reward Lawsuits, please feel free to go to the following web page: Drug Formulary Fraud Whistleblower Reward Lawsuit.

Pradaxa Lawsuit Information: The Blood Thinner Pradaxa Can Cause Excessive Bleeding and Has No Known Antidote or Reversal Agent Which Can Cause Death in Patients Taking the Blood Thinner
For more information on this topic, please feel free to go to the following web page: Pradaxa Lawsuit Information or please feel free to send an e-mail message to Pradaxa Lawyer, Jason Coomer.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Pharmaceutical Company Fraud: Government and Whistleblowers Seek Billions by Texas Pharmaceutical Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer

Pharmaceutical Company Fraud: Government and Whistle-blowers Have Obtained Over $30 Billion From Large Drug Companies And These Numbers Will Increase As Drug Companies Commit Fraud To Obtain Their Share of the Over $800 Billion Drug Industry Annual Revenues by Pharmaceutical Company Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer Jason S. Coomer

State and Federal governments are cracking down are large pharmaceutical companies that commit fraud and violate the law to obtain large drug procurement contracts.  Under the Federal False Claim Act and State Medicaid Fraud Recovery laws, pharmaceutical companies have been forced to pay over $30 Billion in civil and criminal penalties.  This money has been paid to federal and state governments and whistleblowers.  The penalties are drug companies that have committed illegal and fraudulent activities including fraudulent off label drug marketing practices, fraudulent drug marketing, illegal drug kickbacks, and price fixing. 

Billion dollar fines may seem like a large amount of money to pay in fines that would prevent future illegal actions, however, some drug companies are repeat offenders and plan to continue their fraudulent activities because of the large profits that they can make by violating the law.  Some of these companies have determined that the these fines are the price of doing business. The pharmaceutical industry has total annual revenues of over $800 Billion and this global is increasing as the drug industry continue to expand.  Further, with profits for some drugs of over $100 Billion, it can often be worth it for a pharmaceutical company to commit fraud and violate the law to obtain dominance in a market and obtain large public section contracts that translate into large profits.

Government Fines and Whistle-blower Rewards Will Continue to Increase As State and Federal Governments Seek To Reduce Fraud and The Cost of Medical Care

With several repeat offenders and the need to reduce huge public sector medical costs, several governments will continue to raise the fines as well as increase rewards to those that report large scale pharmaceutical company fraud.  Texas currently leads all states in settlements made possible by private-sector whistle-blowers, but the Federal government and numerous other states have also determined the cracking down on pharmaceutical fraud, Medicare fraud, Medicaid fraud, and other forms of health care fraud are important and a politically viable method of reducing public health care costs.

Pharmaceutical marketing representatives and pharmaceutical professionals that are aware of fraudulent off label drug marketing practices, fraudulent drug marketing, illegal drug kickbacks, or price fixing are encouraged to be the first to expose pharmaceutical company fraud.  By the first to file on pharmaceutical company fraud, a whistle-blower can become eligible for a large financial recovery and can avoid potential liability for failing to expose a know crime.

If you are aware of a pharmaceutical company that is committing pharmaceutical company fraud and would like to confidentially have your potential case reviewed, please feel free to contact Pharmaceutical Company Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer Jason Coomer via e-mail message or please feel free to go to the following web pages on this topic: Whistle-blower Reward Lawsuits, Health Care Fraud Whistle-blower Lawsuits, Pharmaceutical Marketing Fraud Lawsuits, and Hospital Formulary Drug Fraud Lawsuits & Off Label Marketing Fraud Lawsuits

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Armstrong Fraud Whistleblower Case: Will US Department of Justice Join This Lawsuit? by Whistleblower Recovery Lawyer Jason S. Coomer

Armstrong Fraud Whistleblower Case: The United States Attorney General Is Currently Deciding Whether to Join The Fraud Whistleblower Reward Lawsuit That Has Been Filed Against Lance Armstrong by Whistleblower Recovery Lawyer Jason S. Coomer

Under Federal law, whistleblower recoveries can come through four different whistleblower recovery laws.  The Federal False Claims Act is the oldest of the laws and under this law the Federal Government has brought in approximately $30 Billion.  Under this law successful whistleblowers have been awarded over $3 Billion.  Through this law people that are aware of substantial fraud against the United States are encouraged to expose the fraud and in some cases can receive rewards for exposing fraud.  These whistleblower recovery lawsuits are the most effective method for identifying and preventing large scale fraud against the government, in financial markets, and in large corporations.

In applying whistleblower recovery laws to the Lance Armstrong situation, a qui tam lawsuit was filed in 2010 alleging that the U.S. Postal Service Team defrauded the Postal Service by taking sponsorship money while doping.  Under the Federal False Claims Act, the Attorney General has the option to join the claim or allow the whistleblower to proceed with the case without the United States joining the case.

For more on Whistleblower Recovery Laws, please feel free to go to the following web page: Whistleblower Recovery Laws, and/or read the article cited below:


Attorney General Eric Holder will decide whether to join whistleblower lawsuit against Lance Armstrong - NY Daily News

"Landis filed the whistleblower suit, also known as a “qui tam” suit, against the U.S. Postal Service Team under the False Claims Act, which allows “whistleblowers” to file suit on behalf of the federal government, in 2010. Landis claims the team defrauded the Postal Service by taking sponsorship money — up to $30 million — from the government-funded agency while cyclists were doping. The government could seek as much as $90 million, which would be triple the damages."