LAW/421
12/22/2014
Instructor:
Bad Medicine
The video that I have just watched is the perfect example of application of the False Claims act, the act that combats fraud against federal government. This video tells us a story of Cheryl Eckard, a quality control employee, whose main goal was to do her job right and to report dangerous conditions to the pharmaceutical giant’s executives. She did not have any intentions to become the hero of the story; all she tried to do was to cease the plant in Puerto Rico as it could have led to multiple tort actions among consumers if not deaths.
When Cheryl just found out what was going wrong and what have caused numerous violations in production, she first tried to simply bring it to executives’ attention. She tried to voice her concerns several times but none of her trials resulted in a solution, nothing changed and the Glaxo plant employees continued committing crime against federal government without knowing what the consequences would possibly be. It is clear that employees of the Puerto Rico Glaxo plant were simply following directions of the plant’s management, what was strange is that none of them tried to stop the process. Day after day Cheryl was finding more and more violations until eventually she was out of job, which was covered as downsizing by the management. This is when she had no other choice but to turn to Food and Drug Administration for help hoping to cease health-damaging production. This is when she finally came closer to the case resolution and found people who immediately responded.
The False Claims act allows individuals file lawsuits on behalf of the government. This is the act that supported Cheryl in her battle and helped her win the federal lawsuit. Federal government recovered millions of dollars as the lawsuit was over and Cheryl as the relator in this case received a certain portion of the money, even though money was not her main concern as many people may think.
One of the best tort actions injured in the Glaxo case was the eight-year-old boy who was taking depression medicine and was overdosed with the prescribed drug as a result of a mix up. As his grandmother stated, the boy got severely ill, as the drug was different in color. This is a dangerous example that could have been prevented. This is a case of a child who is not able yet to fill the difference and to find out the cause of such a serious change. The boy’s grandmother is another person whose voice and concerns might have never been heard. The pharmacist could have simply found an excuse to calm her down and to stop the lady’s concern about the color of the depression medicine. This case could have just stopped there.
The Glaxo case is not only a crime against the federal government; it is also a crime against ethical practices. The drug company intentionally altered the process of drug production, and even after being notified by the quality control employee, that drug company refused to accept any accusations and continued its practices. The company lied to the government and to all those people that consumed the drugs produced by it. When people get prescribed drugs form the pharmacy, they rely on that pharmacy and its employees. Not everyone has knowledge of what specific drug should look like and we all assume that we get the right prescribed medicine and that it will definitely help fight a certain condition.
It took Cheryl a lot of efforts, time and strength to find the right people to turn to and to start that important federal lawsuit. What was the most important is that she was not simply going after the money, but she was trying to find justice. Even after Cheryl was turned down several times, she never gave up and brought up shocking evidences to the attention of the Food and Drug administration.
Comparing the Glaxo case to the New England case in the second video, it has to be mentioned that the second case was far more damaging. Once again, the employees
