Whistleblowers: The New Bounty Hunters

Quiz: QUIZ: Whistleblowers

Question 1 of 10

Which industry has paid the overwhelming majority of whistleblower fraud settlements?

  1. Defense
  2. Finance
  3. Pharmaceutical
  4. Real Estate

The overwhelming majority of whistleblower fraud settlements have been paid by the pharmaceutical industry. Of the 20 largest False Claims Act lawsuits that have been settled, all have been related to the health care industry. Of the top five, HCA Healthcare has paid two, Merck has paid one and another has been paid by Tenet. However, the largest settlement was paid in September 2009 by Pfizer, which settled charges related to the marketing of Bextra for $2.3 billion, the biggest fraud settlement in pharmaceutical industry history.

Pfizer Pays $2.3 Billion to Settle Marketing Case
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/business/03health.html" target="_blank">New York Times