美國連環舉報人再獲鉅額報酬

A Louisiana doctor who has brought a series of whistleblower lawsuits against pharmaceuticals companies is in line for a windfall from Pfizer that would take his total payout from fraud settlements close to $100m.

對製藥公司提起一連串舉報人訴訟的一名路易斯安那州醫生將從輝瑞(Pfizer)得到豐厚付款，這將使他從欺詐和解得到的總付款接近1億美元。

William LaCorte was one of two whistleblowers whose lawsuits resulted in Pfizer yesterday agreeing to pay the US justice department $784.6m to settle allegations that its Wyeth subsidiary overcharged government Medicaid programmes for a heartburn drug.

威廉拉科爾特(William LaCorte)是兩名舉報人之一，他們提起的訴訟導致輝瑞昨日同意向美國司法部支付7.846億美元，以了結相關指控；此前輝瑞的子公司惠氏(Wyeth)被指對一種胃灼熱藥物向美國政府的Medicaid醫療補助計劃收費過高。

The 67-year-old practising medic is likely to receive about $59m of the settlement under US laws aimed at encouraging whistleblowing — adding to his $38m from similar lawsuits.

根據旨在鼓勵舉報的美國法律，這位67歲的執業醫生很可能從和解款項中分得大約5900萬美元，此前他已從類似訴訟中獲得3800萬美元。

The latest payout will reinforce his status as one of America’s most prolific serial whistleblowers and fuel debate over a system that entitles people to receive up to 30 per cent of federal settlements resulting from cases they helped instigate.

最新付款將夯實他作爲美國最高產連環舉報者之一的地位，並給圍繞這一制度的辯論提供素材——按照這一制度，人們有資格從他們幫助發起的案件中分得聯邦和解款項的至多30%。

Dr LaCorte sued Wyeth in 2008 under the US False Claims Act, which allows people to file lawsuits on behalf of the government against companies or individuals for defrauding taxpayers.

拉科爾特醫生在2008年根據美國《虛假申報法》(False Claims Act)起訴惠氏；該法允許人們代表政府對欺詐納稅人的公司或個人提起訴訟。

Wyeth was accused of illegally denying Medicaid, the public-funded health insurance scheme for low-income patients, hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates that were available to non-government customers for its Protonix heartburn drug.

Medicaid是公共資助的醫療保險計劃，面向低收入患者。對於其胃灼熱藥物Protonix，惠氏被指向非政府客戶提供返點，卻未向Medicaid提供返點，涉案金額達數億美元。

Dr LaCorte told the Financial Times that, while whistleblowers could theoretically receive up to 30 per cent of settlements, a more typical payout was 15 per cent. In the Wyeth case, this would be shared with another whistleblower, Lauren Kieff, a former sales representative for AstraZeneca, a rival of Pfizer’s.

拉克特醫生告訴英國《金融時報》，儘管舉報人理論上可以分得和解款項的最多30%，但他們通常情況下分得的份額爲15%。在惠氏的案子，這筆錢將與另一名舉報人——勞倫·基夫(Lauren Kieff)——分享，後者曾是輝瑞競爭對手阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)的銷售代表。

Pfizer said it was pleased to have “reached an agreement in principle” to settle the Protonix dispute.

輝瑞表示，很高興“達成原則協議”，了結圍繞Protonix的糾紛。