Biography
James Wetta, Whistleblower
My name is James Wetta, aka Jim Wetta, and foremost, I am a person who believes in doing the right thing and standing up for justice no matter how small the offense or crime. In 2010, I was ranked 5th in the world by ETISPHERE, in their list of “THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN BUSINESS ETHICS” in the world, for my high ethical standards about my involvement in two record whistleblower cases. I am a former pharmaceutical sales representative, and I am a whistleblower, not once, but twice over, against two pharmaceutical company giants. My first whistleblower lawsuit I was heavily involved with was against Eli Lilly and Company involving their promotion of their antipsychotic drug Zyprexa. I, along with five other of my co-workers, were first to file this whistleblower lawsuit with The United States Department of Justice back in 2003 alleging Zyprexa was being illegally marketed for uses not approved safe and effective by the FDA. The case took 6 very hard, long, and stressful years to settle, and when it finally did, this whistleblower case made history! In 2009, Eli Lilly and Company resolved and settled the allegations contained in this whistleblower case with the United States Department of Justice for the record amount of $1.42 Billion Dollars!
The settlement included a $515 million criminal fine against Eli Lilly and Company, which was the largest individual corporate criminal fine in history at the time. As part of the settlement, Eli Lilly and Company signed a plea agreement admitting its guilt to a misdemeanor criminal charge. This criminal fine was also the largest ever imposed in a United States criminal prosecution of any sort. As part of the resolution with the United States Department of Justice, Eli Lilly and Company agreed to enter into Corporate Integrity Agreement, aka “CIA,” between the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The second whistleblower case I was involved in was against AstraZeneca and their antipsychotic drug Seroquel. I was first to file this whistleblower case with The United States Department of Justice in 2004, and this case also took 6 very long, difficult, and stressful years to settle and resolve the allegations in the complaint. In this settlement, AstraZeneca agreed to pay $520 million to resolve allegations that AstraZeneca illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel for uses not approved safe and effective by the FDA. This was another record case at the time of its settlement in 2010. In addition to the civil settlement agreement, the resolution included a Corporate Integrity Agreement, aka “CIA,” between AstraZeneca and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
What is a whistleblower, and what is a “Qui Tam” legal action? Essentially, a whistleblower is someone, or a group of individuals, who reports corruption, fraud, waste, or dangers to the public safety to an authority or to someone who is in a position of power to stop these activities from continuing and to bring about justice. In most situations, a whistleblower is an “insider” working for an organization, or for some other entity, but being an “insider” is not a prerequisite for being a whistleblower. The key to becoming a whistleblower is the wrongdoing being disclosed by the whistleblower to an authority, or to someone in a position of power to correct the wrongdoing, cannot be of public knowledge.
A qui tam action, a Latin term, is a legal action brought upon a person or group of individuals known as a “relator” or “relators” on the behalf of the government. Ultimately, the government, and not the “relator” or “relators,” is considered the actual plaintiff in this type of legal action. If the government ultimately prevails, the “relator” or “relators” receive a share of the reward. Typically, the reward is 15%, but it can go as high as 30%. Whistleblower lawsuits involving pharmaceutical companies are often initiated via the False Claims Act, which authorizes qui tam actions against parties who have defrauded the federal government.