Firm Secures Seventh Circuit Affirmance for Global Pharmaceutical Company in “Off-Label” RICO Suit

On November 13, 2019, the Firm scored a major victory for our client, a global pharmaceutical company, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment ruling in a long-running civil RICO case.

The plaintiff, a regional health insurance company, originally filed suit in 2014 against the Firm’s client and several other pharmaceutical manufacturers, alleging improper “off-label” marketing of certain prescription medications to insurers, physicians, and patients. The insurer sought certification of a nationwide class of third-party payors and damages based on over a decade of reimbursements of the drugs in question.

In July 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied the insurer’s motion for class certification, finding that it was an inadequate class representative and that individual issues predominated over common ones. In February 2019, the district court awarded summary judgment to our client as to all of the insurer’s claims, ruling that there was “insufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that [the] alleged misrepresentations … proximately caused [the insurer’s] alleged injuries.”

In its November 13, 2019 order, the Seventh Circuit unanimously affirmed, “agree[ing]” with the district court that “no reasonable jury could conclude that [the insurer plaintiff] . . . relied on any of [the alleged] statements” in making any coverage-related decision.  Moreover, citing an earlier Seventh Circuit case successfully briefed and argued by the Firm, the court agreed that the insurer could not state a RICO claim based on “[t]he possibility that [it] was derivatively affected by statements made to physicians or patients.”

To read press on the win, click here.