On December 3, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the First Amendment protects pharmaceutical companies who truthfully promote the lawful, off-label use of prescription drugs from criminal prosecution in United States v. Caronia, __ F. 3d ___, 2012 WL 5992141 (2d Cir. Dec. 3, 2012). This decision has attracted widespread attention from the government, the FDA, and the pharmaceutical industry, prompting questions as to whether Caronia could be the beginning of the end of the FDA’s prohibition on off-label promotion.
The constitutional and regulatory implications of Caronia are significant and it is unclear how this decision will affect civil liability under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), one of the primary tools used by the government to penalize off-label promotion. This Client Alert analyzes the potential FCA implications of Caronia, assessing how this decision may affect defenses available to companies accused of violating the FCA for alleged off-label marketing.
Please see full alert below for more information.
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Topics: Commercial Speech, False Claims Act, FDA, FDCA, Fraud, Free Speech, Marketing, Medicare, Misbranding, Off-Label Promotion, Off-Label Use, Pharmaceutical, Qui Tam, Whistleblowers
Published In:
Communications & Media Law Updates, Constitutional Law Updates, Criminal Law Updates, Government Contracting Updates, Science, Computers & Technology Updates
DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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