BRG Expert Analysis in Janssen’s False Claims Act Win

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment to Janssen Biotech Inc. in United States ex rel. Long v. Janssen Biotech, Inc. The qui tam action alleged that Janssen provided free business advisory and practice-management services to physician practices to induce prescriptions and infusions of two autoimmune medicines, resulting in false claims to Medicare.

Janssen’s counsel at Covington & Burling LLP retained BRG experts Greg Russo and Garrett Mann to provide independent rebuttal analyses of Relator’s experts. Russo analyzed Medicare claims and Janssen’s programming records to evaluate the opposing expert’s causation analysis and damages calculations. His work examined whether the data and analytical assumptions supported Relator’s claimed causal relationship between Janssen’s programming and increased government expenditures for prescriptions.

Mann drew on his own experience providing business improvement consulting to physician practices to assess whether Janssen’s programming was comparable to paid consulting services. He analyzed program content, training, and compliance materials to distinguish general educational information from the practice-specific data analysis and implementation support characteristic of substantive consulting engagements in the healthcare industry.

Heather Bates, Cirrus Foroughi, and Austin Hay led BRG’s support team.