A federal judge in Illinois has tripled the amount Eli Lilly must pay after a jury found the pharmaceutical company guilty of violating the False Claims Act in August 2022, according to a May 9 report from Law360.
Initially, federal Judge Harry Leinenweber had ruled that the company was to pay $61 million in damages. Now, that amount has risen to more than $183 million according to court documents.
After the jury announced the $61 million in damages, the defendant in the case, Ronald Streck, — who initially filed the False Claims Act against Eli Lilly in 2014 — filed a post-trial motion to amend the judgment and seek trebled damages — something that is allowed under the False Claims Act, according documents and Law360's report.
"It is granted insofar as the Court orders damages to be trebled," the document reads. The judge also ordered that "civil penalties for all violations at 20 percent above the relevant statutory minimums."
"Lilly is committed to upholding high standards of corporate conduct in our business dealings," an Eli Lilly spokesperson told Becker's. "While we are disappointed with the Court's ruling, we intend to appeal it and are confident that the Seventh Circuit will reverse."