Congressional Investigation of Pharmacy Rebates on Medicaid Drugs
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 01.16.04
The House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations have asked five large retail pharmacy chains for documents on pharmaceutical reimbursements and rebates under Medicaid. The committee is concerned that drug manufacturers may have been engaged in improper "marketing of the spread," to the detriment of state Medicaid programs. The letters expressed concern that drug manufacturers could be charging low prices on particular prescription medications to their customers, while submitting inaccurate or incomplete cost or price information that becomes the basis of state Medicaid reimbursement for the drug at much higher prices. The January 14th letters were sent to CVS, Eckerd, Rite Aid, Walgreen, and Wal-Mart.
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
