Forest Laboratories Inc. is the subject of a whistleblower lawsuit that claims it bribed the main author of a federally funded study with kickbacks so it would favorably discuss the company's drug antidepressant drug Celexa.
According to Law 360 (subscription required), psychologist H. Edmunf Pigott filed the lawsuit against the laboratory, claiming that it paid bribes and kickbacks to the principal investigator of a $35 million study contracted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1999; Dr. John Rush of the University of Texas' Southwest Medical Center.
According to the whistleblower lawsuit, Rush and his fellow investigators used Celexa as the only antidepressant in the first leg of the study, which it alleges gave it an advantage over similar antidepressant medications. Giving a drug such an advantage in a study is a violation of the False Claims Act.
The lawsuit also stated that the advantage given to Celexa in the study ended up leading to falsifications and overstatements regarding the effectiveness of the drug. Following the release of the study in 2006, Celexa sales skyrocketed.
Rush was one of ten authors of the study who later disclosed they had received payments from Forest Laboratories. He eventually left the University of Texas and was removed as the study's principal investigator amid allegations he did not fully disclose his ties to the NIMH.
If you are aware of fraudulent activity that has been conducted at the expense of the government, contact Sokolove Law today for a confidential legal consultation to discuss the possibility of pursuing a whistleblower lawsuit.