Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyers Blog
The federal government may target organizations and businesses as well as individuals for violations of federal criminal statutes. For example, in the health care realm, cases can include office managers, practitioners from doctors, nurses to pharmacists to all other aspects of the medical industry. Recent federal investigations have targeted pill mills, medicaid fraud, and accepting kickbacks among others.
Experienced federal criminal defense attorneys like those at Conaway & Strickler, PC may suggest early on about the possibility of entering into a “deferred prosecution agreement” which is essentially a contract with the Department of Justice. DPAs are frequently used in cases involving corporate fraud, bribery, and antitrust violations. These pretrial agreements may involve an admission of wrongdoing, the payment of fines, and the implementation of compliance measures. Charges may be dropped if the defendant complies with the requirements of the agreement. Generally, the Assistant United States Attorney will file the criminal complaint and the DPA with the court, so it is of public record. This will be accompanied by a formal request to the court that any prosecution be delayed according to the terms of the DPA, allowing the defendant to fulfill its agreed-upon actions. This is very similar to conditional discharge / pre trial diversion agreements found at the state level.
An example of a DPA would be one that was entered in to by the DOJ and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc in August 2023 in response to the that company’s involvement in a price fixing conspiracy involving several pharmaceuticals. As seen in this example, terms can include paying a fine, waiving certain rights, agreeing to a factual basis for the charges, and an agreement to cooperate and compliance monitoring and of course, agreeing to what will happen if there is a breach of the agreement.
The central benefit to entering in to a DPA is that the individual or business entity is not convicted of any crime. It offers an opportunity to have the federal criminal charges dismissed or dropped once the accused completes all the required conditions.
Here is an another example of a DPA entered in to with the NDGA and Avanir Pharmaceuticals. This pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Aliso Viejo, California, was charged for paying kickbacks to a physician to induce prescriptions of its drug Nuedexta. Of note in that case – the Northern District of Ohio indicted four individuals, including former Avanir employees and one of the top prescribers of Nuedexta in the country, who were involved in the kickback scheme. So, the company itself entered in to a DPA but there was still fall out with respect to some individuals and receiving criminal indictments.
Early intervention is key in a successful resolution in health care criminal matters. We have extensively blogged about health care fraud. Contact us if you need an experience federal criminal defense litigator. Our firm in connection has vast experience in white collar criminal investigations including False Claims Act and antitrust investigations.