Embezzlement. Misappropriation of business opportunities. Corporate theft. Racketeering. Price fixing. Multi-company collusion.
These acts of wrongdoing and additionally alleged misbehaviors are at the heart of a recent media report on actions taken in the civil and criminal spheres that target and seek to punish select individuals and corporate enterprises in the medical realm.
Unquestionably, civil regulators and criminal law enforcers are closely fixated these days on what they say is increased white collar financial crime activity in the health care industry. They point especially to gaudy and unjustified price jumps — termed “staggering price increases” in the above-cited article — and collusion among multiple industry actors to unlawfully fix prices of many generic drugs, as well as concerted efforts to create geographical market carve-outs for drug-company competitors.
That ups the ante, of course, for individuals and entities that are targeted in investigatory probes. And it is likely leading as well to increased incidents where actors who have not engaged in any unlawful behavior at all or, conversely, have only unwittingly done so, are ensnared in government anti-crime campaigns.
The aforementioned media piece cites the possibility that “diverse types of lawsuits could ignite a legal domino effect” and implicate “multiple prongs” operative in the health field.
Recently, civil and criminal actions have been brought in federal courts against company principals for acts relating to unlawful drug price increases, and just late last year attorneys general from 20 states lodged a price-fixing complaint against six major pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Alleged financial crimes — especially in the medical realm — are firmly on the radar of company officials, regulators and state and federal prosecutors.
Questions regarding law enforcers’ aggressive strategies employed in white collar financial crime probes and case prosecutions can be directed to a proven criminal defense attorney.