PHILADELPHIA and DALLAS, March 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Berger Montague and Reese Marketos secured one of the largest False Claims Act recoveries in history for the U.S. government on Friday when the law firms obtained a $1.64 billion judgment on behalf of two whistleblowers in the pharmaceutical industry.
In his March 28, 2025 opinion, U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi of the District of New Jersey found that Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Products "engaged in a deliberate and calculated scheme that spanned several years and involved the unlawful marketing" of two of its HIV medications, Prezista and Intelence, for off-label uses.
The final judgment follows a six-week trial led by Reese Marketos in 2024 on behalf of whistleblowers Jessica Penelow and Christine Brancaccio, two former sales representatives at Janssen, who filed the lawsuit in 2012. Relators' longtime counsel at Berger Montague joined forces with Reese Marketos in 2022 to take the case to trial. Berger Montague overcame several pretrial hurdles throughout the course of the 12-year litigation, including defeating Janssen's 2021 motion for summary judgment and the 2017 motion to dismiss.
In its June 13, 2024 verdict, the jury found that Janssen caused the submission of 159,574 false claims to the government for reimbursement for two of its drugs, awarding the United States government $120 million in single damages. Under the False Claims Act, damages automatically treble to...
By Matthew Knott and Nick Bonyhady April 19, 2025 — 5.54pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any tim...