Draft:Ven-A-Care

Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys is a four-person former pharmacy and one of the most successful qui tam relators of all time, producing more than $2.2B in revenue for the government and $380M for the relators. During a study conducted on whistleblowing efforts between November 2010 and July 2012, they accounted for almost half of the whistleblower-prompted federal and state settlements.

Early history as a pharmacy
Ven-A-Care was co-founded by Mark Jones and Luis Cobo as a pharmacy in the 1987. They specialized in to providing end-of-life care to HIV and cancer patients during the AIDS Crisis. This came primarily in the form of home infusions.

In 1991 W. R. Grace and Company allegedly approached Ven-A-Care about partnering to open a new AIDS clinic, termed National Medical Care Inc. In lawsuits, Ven-A-Care alleged that National Medical Care Inc intended to choose the drugs that would make the clinic the most money, rather than selecting them for medical reasons.

When the new clinic opened, it took most of the business in the area, and Ven-A-Care's revenue dried up. This inspired Ven-A-Care to investigate National Medical Care Inc for fraudulent behavior, and in 1994 they filed their first qui tam lawsuit. A $500M settlement in 2000 against National Medical Care Inc broke Department of Justice records and included a $100M criminal penalty.

Additional anti-fraud litigation work
Much of Ven-A-Care's litigation was based on alleged manipulation of the calculation of average wholesale price for Medicare and Medicare billing.

In 2001, a Ven-A-Care case with Bayer reached a settlement.

In 2005, a Ven-A-Care case with GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals settled.

In 2007, a Ven-A-Care case reached a settlement with Bristol Myers Squibb and its subsidiary Apothecon. Another case, with Aventis Pharma also settled.

In 2009, Ven-A-Care's cases with four pharmaceutical companies (Mylan, AstraZeneca, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, and UDL Laboratories) settled over a Medicaid Drug Rebate Program suit. A case against Schering-Plough also settled that year, as did an additional one with Teva Pharmaceuticals.

In 2010, they secured settlements against Abbott Laboratories B. Braun and Roxane Labs, and the Dey family of companies.

In 2011, after 18 cases handled by settlement, a Ven-A-Care secured its first trial victory over Actavis. The verdict was appealed, and the eventual settlement was for far less. A separate case against Par Pharmaceutical also settled. Two additional cases against Watson Pharmaceuticals and a unit of Novartis also settled.

In 2013, Ven-A-Care settled a price manipulation case against Pfizer.

In 2017, Ven-A-Care settled a second case against Mylan, this time with former defendant Sanofi (via Avantis) as a co-relator.