False Claims case tops 2019’s Million-Dollar Settlements

A False Claims Act case involving scientists in a lab at Duke University Health System tops Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s compilation of Million-Dollar Settlements of 2019.

The whistleblower action came against a lab in Duke’s Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, where false research results were generated and reported in applications and progress reports submitted to the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The case settled for $112.5 million and attorneys from Roanoke firm Gentry Locke represented the plaintiff in North Carolina federal court.

You can read more about it and the other top settlements from 2019 HERE.

Here are the criteria for a settlement to make the list:

• The settlement must be for at least $1 million.
• The settlement had to have taken place in Virginia or had strong Virginia ties.
• The settlement was reached in 2019.

There are 67 settlements in this year’s compilation. Medical malpractice and personal injury cases were the leading practice areas in the compilation. Three settlements reached exceeded $10 million.

If we have missed any million-dollar settlements from 2019, please let us know. We’ll be glad to add that information to the online version of the feature so it can be as complete as possible.

– Jordan Bondurant