Health Care Attorneys in New York

Lowey Dannenberg:
the experienced choice for
Healthcare Litigation

Named the “go-to law firm” by industry leaders.

Lowey Dannenberg is the nation’s premier pharmaceutical recovery law firm. It is known in the healthcare industry for its market-leading initiatives, depth of experience, and consistent results. The Firm’s advice is valued by the largest health benefits companies in the United States, including Aetna CVS, Anthem, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Cigna, HCSC, Humana and numerous other companies. Lowey Dannenberg’s expertise was highlighted when Aetna and Humana each identified Lowey as a “Go-to Law Firm” for litigation services Corporate Counsel magazine’s “In House Law Departments at the Top 500 Companies.”

Health insurers routinely turn to Lowey Dannenberg to prosecute and recover overcharges for prescription drugs, other medical products or services, and liens. The firm also often acts on their behalf in more routine non-contingent commercial litigation, including class action defense.

Lowey Dannenberg has industry expertise, particularly in the areas of:

  • Defective Drugs and Products – Litigating on behalf of insurers to recover overpayments for defective drugs and medical products, including those manufactured in violation of FDA standards
  • Prescription Drug and Device Price Manipulation – Recovering overcharges from prescription drug and medical device price manipulation, including “generic delay” cases, price fixing, and “off-label” marketing
  • Lien Recovery – Prosecuting and negotiating medical lien reimbursements in mass tort litigation
  • Class Action Defense – Representing health insurers facing class actions in state and federal courts

Representative Cases

Drugs Failing to Meet FDA’s Manufacturing Standards:

  • In Blue Cross Blue Shield Ass’n, et al. v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC, No. 13-4663-JS (E.D. Pa.), Lowey Dannenberg and its co-counsel represented 39 health insurers (accounting for 60% of the U.S. market for non-governmental health insurance) in a novel recovery action seeking billions in damages against British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline for selling prescription drugs manufactured under conditions that amounted to egregious violations of federal standards. After defeating summary judgment (Blue Cross Blue Shield Ass’n v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC, 417 F. Supp. 3d 531 (E.D. Pa. 2019)), we confidentially settled on the literal eve of trial.

Rezulin Antitrust Litigation.

  • Lowey Dannenberg represented health insurers in warranty and associated claims against Warner Lambert and Pfizer. Desiano v. Warner-Lambert Co., 326 F.3d 339 (2d Cir. 2003) (a landmark decision establishing the direct rights of third-party payers to sue pharmaceutical manufacturers for drug overcharges for defective drugs).

“Pay-for-Delay” Antitrust Claims:

  • Aggrenox Generic Delay Antitrust – Humana Inc. v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, et al., No. 3:14-cv- 00572 (D. Conn.) (Lowey Dannenberg represented Humana and 10 other health insurers in connection with their antitrust claims against manufacturers of branded and generic Aggrenox; Humana’s case was resolved in a confidential settlement; others are continuing)
  • Lidoderm Generic Delay Antitrust Government Employees Health Association v. Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al., No. 3:14-cv-02180-WHO (N.D. Cal.) (Lowey Dannenberg represented 21 health insurers in connection with their antitrust claims against sellers of branded and generic Lidoderm; )
  • Ranbaxy Generic Drug Antitrust – In re: Ranbaxy Generic Drug Antitrust Litig., No. 1:19-cv-10356 (D. Mass.) (Lowey Dannenberg is prosecuting a class action, on behalf of a class of third-party payers, alleging that Ranbaxy, one of the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, prevented competition among various generic drugs by adopting a long-term fraudulent scheme to obtain “first-to-file” status for their generic drugs based on false and deceptive representations made to FDA)
  • Hytrin Generic Delay Antitrust In re Terazosin Hydrochloride Antitrust Litig., No. 1:99-MD-01317 (S.D. Fl.) (Lowey Dannenberg represented a class health insurers asserting antitrust claims against Abbott Laboratories and Geneva Pharmaceuticals, sellers of branded and generic Hytrin, and ultimately settled the case for $28.7 million)
  • Cardizem CD Antitrust Litigation – In re Cardizem CD Antitrust Litig., 332 F.3d 896 (6th Cir. 2003) (in the first “pay-for-delay” litigation, Lowey Dannenberg represented a class of health insurers asserting antitrust claims against Aventis S.A. and Andrx Corporation, sellers of branded and generic Cardizem CD, and ultimately settled the case for $80 million)

Price Fixing of Pharmaceutical Drugs:

  • In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 2724 (E.D. Pa.) – Lowey Dannenberg represents 34 of the nation’s largest health insurers, including Elevance Health (formerly known as Anthem), Aetna, Humana, and 25 BlueCross BlueShield licensees in connection with their claims relating to widespread price-fixing of generic pharmaceutical products. Some of this litigation has been centralized before the Honorable Cynthia M. Rufe in In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 2724 (E.D. Pa.). Lowey Dannenberg’s clients collectively purchased billions of dollars of these drugs during the alleged price-fixing conspiracies

Deceptive Marketing Claims:

  • In re Neurontin Marketing and Sales Practices Litig. – Lowey Dannenberg represented Aetna in a RICO action against Pfizer for fraudulent marketing of Neurontin for unapproved uses, the case was resolved in a confidential settlement after summary judgment was denied in Aetna, Inc. v. Pfizer, et al., 712 F.3d 51 (1st Cir. 2013) (a significant RICO decision holding drug manufacturers accountable to health insurers for damages attributable to off-label marketing fraud).
  • In re Avandia Mktg. Sales Practices & Prods. Liab. Litig., 804 F.3d 633 (3d Cir. 2015) (Lowey Dannenberg represented 20 health insurers as amicus curiae, where the Third Circuit held that a drug manufacturer’s deceptive marketing causes third-party payers to suffer legally cognizable injuries)
  • Warfarin Sodium Antitrust Litig.Lowey Dannenberg represented health insurers asserting antitrust and unfair trade practices claims against DuPont Pharmaceuticals Company. In re Warfarin Sodium Antitrust Litigation, 391 F.3d 516 (3rd Cir. 2004).

Lien Recovery Cases:

  • Lowey Dannenberg successfully established Medicare Advantage Organizations’ reimbursement recovery rights under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. In re Avandia Mktg., Sales Practices & Prod. Liab. Litig., 685 F.3d 353, 367 (3d Cir. 2012).
  • Meek-Horton v. Trover, et al., 910 F. Supp. 2d 690 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) and Potts v. Rawlings Co. LLC, 897 F. Supp. 2d 185 (S.D.N.Y. 2012) – Lowey Dannenberg secured judgments dismissing the class action lawsuits, which sought to apply New York State’s anti-subrogation law to void health insurance plans’ subrogation and reimbursement rights in New York.
  • Minerley v. Aetna, Inc., No. 13-cv-1377, 2019 WL 2635991 (D.N.J. June 27, 2019), aff’d, No. 19-2730, 2020 WL 734448 (3d Cir. Feb. 13, 2020) and Roche v. Aetna, Inc., 165 F. Supp. 3d 180 (D.N.J. 2016), aff’d, 681 F. App’x 117 (3d Cir. 2017) – Lowey Dannenberg defended Aetna and secured judgments dismissing the class action lawsuits seeking to bar certain reimbursement lien recoveries under New Jersey law.

Other Health Care Engagements:

  • America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national trade association representing health insurers, retained Lowey Dannenberg to represent it before the United States Supreme Court as amicus curiae in a seminal “pay-for-delay” pharmaceutical case. Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, 570 U.S. 756 (2013).

“The bottom line is that Lowey Dannenberg consistently delivers superb results.”

~ J. Edward Neugebauer, Deputy Chief Legal Officer and Head of Litigation, Aetna, Inc.

Landmark Outcomes
Lowey represented Aetna in an individual action seeking recovery against Pfizer for its off-label marketing of Neurontin and served as class counsel on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee, securing the first-ever verdict in history against a pharmaceutical manufacturer (Pfizer) finding it engaged in a RICO enterprise by fraudulently marketing its drug, resulting in a $142 million trebled award. This pivotal decision reversed a negative trend in off-label drug marketing cases.  The Court’s conclusion that “Aetna’s economic injury was a foreseeable and natural consequence” of Pfizer’s scheme represents a common-sense application of the law to the economic realities of the prescription drug market.
Lowey later argued and won a landmark RICO decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, holding drug manufacturers accountable to health insurers for damages attributable to marketing fraud. In re Neurontin Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., 712 F.3d 51 (1st Cir. 2013).

In the Rezulin litigation, Lowey Dannenberg, representing a class of endpayers, made law that has influenced every third party payer prescription drug case since. Louisiana BlueCross BlueShield (“LABCBS”), sued Warner Lambert and Pfizer for alleged misrepresentations about the qualities of their antidiabetic medication, Rezulin, injuring LABCBS in excessive purchases of the drug. Lowey successfully argued to reverse dismissal of LABCBS’ class action in a precedent-setting appeal to the Second Circuit. This case established the direct rights (as contrasted with derivative, and more limited, subrogation rights) of third-party payers to sue pharmaceutical manufacturers for drug overcharges for defective drugs. Desiano v. Warner-Lambert Co., 326 F.3d 339 (2d Cir. 2003).

Lowey Dannenberg successfully established Medicare Advantage Organizations’ reimbursement recovery rights under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. In re Avandia Mktg., Sales Practices & Prod. Liab. Litig., 685 F.3d 353, 367 (3d Cir. 2012).

Have a Case You Think We Can Help With?

Contact Our Office Now

“The bottom line is that Lowey Dannenberg consistently delivers superb results.”

~ J. Edward Neugebauer, Deputy Chief Legal Officer and Head of Litigation, Aetna, Inc.

Landmark Outcomes
Lowey represented Aetna in an individual action seeking recovery against Pfizer for its off-label marketing of Neurontin and served as class counsel on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee, securing the first-ever verdict in history against a pharmaceutical manufacturer (Pfizer) finding that it engaged in a RICO enterprise by fraudulently marketing its drug, resulting in a $142 million trebled award.

This pivotal decision reversed a negative trend in off-label drug marketing cases.  The Court’s conclusion that “Aetna’s economic injury was a foreseeable and natural consequence” of Pfizer’s scheme represents a common-sense application of the law to the economic realities of the prescription drug market.

Lowey later argued and won a landmark RICO decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, holding drug manufacturers accountable to health insurers for damages attributable to marketing fraud.

In re Neurontin Mktg. & Sales Practices Litigation, 712 F.3d 51 (1st Cir. 2013).

Have a Case You Think We Can Help With?

Contact Our Office Now