Page 1 - CLT072020

COVID-19 concerns
lead Connecticut’s
federal courts to push
back the schedule for
resuming jury selection
and trials.

July 20, 2020 ¦ Vol. 46, No. 29 ¦ $10.00 See Page 11
SPECIAL SECTION: INSURANCE LAW – PAGES S-18 TO S-25

Connecticut Lawyer Helped Spark

Novartis’ $729 Million Settlement

By ROBERT STORACE
When former Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Corp. sales representative and whistle-
blower Oswald Bilotta reached out to a
Connecticut lawyer, he didn’t know what could
come next.
He called the Chester, Connecticut, offices of
Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah in 2011 with
allegations that Swiss drugmaker Novartis was
providing kickbacks to doctors and others to pro-
mote their drugs. And he said he could prove it.
This led law firm founder and partner James
Miller to recognize he had an important case that
could be worth millions.
Miller at the time, though, had no idea that
nine years later that thanks to intervention from
the federal government, Novartis would pay $729
million to settle claims that it violated the federal
False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute.
According to the government, the company Novartis headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
Photo: Lucarista/Shutterstock.com

provided doctors with cash payments and lavish ¦ Continued on PAGE 4

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