DOJ honors team handling Pfizer case with highest award

by Ben Vernia | October 27th, 2010

On October 26, the Department of Justice held its annual awards ceremony. Taking one of the top honors this year was the team from DOJ and HHS that landed the biggest fraud settlement on records – Pfizer Inc’s 2009 agreement to pay $2.3 billion. According to DOJ’s press release:

The Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service is presented to a team for its exceptional determination and coordination in the investigation and prosecution of off-label promotion and kickbacks by Pfizer Inc. and its employees. The $2.3 billion civil and criminal resolution was the largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice, and the $1.3 billion criminal fine is the single largest ever paid.

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, recipients include: Sara Miron Bloom, Chief of Affirmative Litigation; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Susan M. Poswistilo and Zachary A. Cunha; from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Deputy Chief for Affirmative Matters Marilyn May, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlene Keller Fullmer; from the Eastern District of Kentucky, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robin Gwinn and Cheryl D. Morgan; from the Department of Justice Civil Division Commercial Litigation Branch, Patricia L. Hanower and Sanjay M. Bhambhani, Senior Trial Counsels; and Colin M. Huntley, Trial Attorney; from the Civil Division’s Office of Consumer Litigation, Jill P. Furman, Assistant Branch Director and Mark L. Josephs, Trial Attorney; from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administrative and Civil Remedies Branch, Senior Counsels Mary Riordan and Nicole Hall; and from the HHS Food & Drug Administration, Anne K. Walsh, Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement.

Congratulations to the honorees!

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