CNN Money reports that authorities reached a $2.2 billion settlement with pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson in November, allotting $167.7 million to a group of whistleblowers .
According to documents and wire recordings produced by current and former employees, the company “marketed drugs for unapproved uses and gave kickbacks to doctors and nursing homes.” As a result, Attorney General Eric Holder says executives “lined their pockets at the expense of American taxpayers, patients and the private insurance industry.”
The Justice Department says that the nearly $168 million award is one of the largest in U.S. history. It will be split among whistleblowers in several states, including a $28 million portion that will go to Joe Strom for originally bringing the suit in 2005.
For more on this, see the CNN Money article by Gregory Wallace.
