Tennessee False Claims Lawsuit Settled for $11.3 Million

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Medical equipment manufacturer Smith & Nephew has settled a Tennessee False Claims lawsuit filed against it for $11.3 million. As intimated to the Western District Federal Court on September 3, 2014, the settlement involves a whopping $2.3 million share to the Tennessee whistleblower who initiated the lawsuit. The London-based company was accused of breaching the manufacturing and marketing conditions set by the federal Trade Agreements Act.

The whistleblower lawsuit was filed by Samuel Cox in 2008. Mr Cox, a former IT manager with the medical device maker, alleged that the company sold devices imported from Malaysia to the federal government by “misrepresenting the country of origin.” The Department of Veterans Affairs purchased orthopedic equipment from the manufacturer in 2007 and 2008. According to the Trade Agreements Act, Smith & Nephew is required to provide only items made in the United States or other countries signatory to the trade pact.

However, the company procured devices from Straits Orthopedics of Malaysia and supplied them to the government, the whistleblower lawsuit asserted. In the absence of any trade pact with that country, Smith & Nephew is debarred from selling Malaysian equipment to the Veterans Affairs department. The company went a step ahead claiming that the supplied devices were US made, claims the TN false claim attorney representing Mr Cox.

The US government refused to intervene in the false claim lawsuit allowing the plaintiff to proceed on his own. He along with his Tennessee whistleblower lawyer continued the litigation that eventually forced Smith & Nephew to settle it out of court. While the government recovered $6 million following the settlement, the plaintiff received a large share of the total amount paid as his relator’s fee.

Tennessee False Claim Lawsuit: Must Know Aspects

  • There are separate false claims acts in Tennessee governing whistleblower lawsuits over misappropriation of Medicaid and other funds. The Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act enacted in 1993 covers all litigations related to the recovery of healthcare funds. All other qui tam claims come under the Tennessee False Claim Act last amended in 1986.
  • “Any deliberate or knowingly false or fraudulent claim, conduct, representation, or practice in order to receive money, property, or service directly or indirectly from the state or any political subdivision” by an individual, business organization, entity, partnership, or trust leads to “liability to be prosecuted” under the law.
  • The federal and state governments are at liberty to join or refuse to be party to a Tennessee false claims lawsuit. However, it is no way impact the progress of the litigation until the qui tam plaintiff is ready to continue.
  • The whistleblower can continue the lawsuit with the help of his Tennessee false claims lawyer and seek the recovery of misappropriated public money.
  • The defendant convicted of false claim is directed to pay money three-time more than the value of the loss caused or defrauded along with punitive fines.
  • A share of the total money recovered is paid to the whistleblower and his attorney. It ranges between 15 and 30 percent. Legal protection is also assured to the whistleblower to safeguard him against “discharge, demotion, suspension, threat, harassment, denial of promotion, or discrimination for disclosing or furthering a false claims action.”
  • TN false claims lawsuits must be initiated within 10-year of the act committed or three-year of its discovery.

For false claims free case evaluation, please contact us or call on 1-800-632-1404.

Contact a Tennessee False Claims Act Attorney

We help whistleblowers on a contingency basis, meaning there is no fee charged for our work unless there is a recovery. We also front any and all expenses. No matter where you are located — we will represent you. We will come to you, you will not have to come to us. Attorneys in our firm and attorneys that we work with on Whistleblower, Qui Tam, False Claims Act cases have represented a host of persons making claims, for violations of federal tax law, Medicare law and more. For more information, please contact our team of whitsleblower and qui tam attorneys today.

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    Our offices will review potential false claims act cases in all fifty states, including Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Alabama.

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