Whistleblower in generic drug maker Ranbaxy case to receive $48.6 million reward one of the largest to date

The whistleblower in one of the largest settled False Claims Act cases against a pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy will receive $48.6 million from what the government recovered, which will exceed $500 million. Dinesh Thakur, former Ranbaxy executive first tried to report the company wrongdoing to Ranbaxy management but they would not listen to him. Ranbaxy has agreed to pay $500 million to resolve the whistleblower suit and in court papers admitted it sold batches of drugs that were improperly manufactured stored and tested. The company, which is India’s largest drug maker also pleaded guilty to making fraudulent statements to the FDA about how it tested drugs in two of its plants. Thakur filed a False Claims Act case under seal initially, in which he revealed the details of the company wrongdoings and the government investigated the claim and joined in it. Under the False Claims Act, a whistleblower is allowed to receive a percentage of what the government recovers, which in this case related to improper billings to Medicare. Ranbaxy manufactures generic drugs. Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers.