> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.fdaweb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Feds Join Questcor Whistleblower Case
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/feds-join-questcor-whistleblower-case/
- Published: 2019-05-02T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T01:24:20.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5144009

The federal government has intervened in two whistleblower False Claims Act cases alleging that Mallinckrodt’s Questcor Pharmaceuticals unit improperly promoted an expensive multiple sclerosis drug and paid kickbacks to doctors who prescribed the drug, H.P. Acthar Gel. Reuters [reports](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mallinckrodt-lawsuit/mallinckrodt-shares-drop-after-u-s-joins-cases-over-expensive-drug-idUSKCN1S623P?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&ref=fdaweb.com) the Justice Department decided to intervene after investigating the whistleblowers’ allegations.

Questcor reportedly increased Acthar’s price for a single vial from $2,000 to $23,000 in 2007 (well before it was acquired by Mallincrodt in 2014). Mallinckrodt says the price today is $38,892\. The suits were filed in 2012 and 2013 by two former Questcor employees. A Mallinckrodt statement said the company disagrees with the allegations and has been in “advanced settlement talks with the government over the past several months.

In one of the suits, a former employee claims the company tried to boost Acthar sales by paying doctors illegal kickbacks in the form of bribes, speaker fees, and consulting deals. It also said the company sales staff used deceptive and misleading marketing tactics to promote the drug for off-label uses and treatment regimens.