Lawton v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

Plaintiff brought a qui tam action against Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and its affiliates (collectively, Takeda) and Eli Lilly and Company (Eli Lilly) (collectively, Defendants) under the False Claims Act (FCA) and the False Claims Acts of several different states, alleging that Defendants engaged in an illegal marketing campaign for Actos, a brand name drug approved by the FDA for improving blood sugar control in adults with Type 2 diabetes, and used illegal kickbacks to support that campaign. Plaintiff further alleged that through this campaign, Defendants knowingly caused third parties to submit false reimbursement claims to government entities for off-label uses of Actos. The district court dismissed Plaintiff’s claims, concluding that Plaintiff had failed to plead his claims with the particularity required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b). The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the district court correctly dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint under Rule 9(b); and (2) the district court similarly did not err when it dismissed Plaintiff’s state claims with prejudice. View "Lawton v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co." on Justia Law