Amgen 2009 Annual Report Download - page 172

AMGEN INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
Defendants’ motion to dismiss without prejudice and, on January 30, 2009, plaintiffs filed an Amended Con-
solidated Class Action Complaint, which is predicated on similar underlying allegations. Amgen filed its motion
to dismiss the amended and consolidated MDL complaint on March 6, 2009. On June 17, 2009, the California
Central District Court granted Amgen’s motion and dismissed the entire action with prejudice. On July 17, 2009,
Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal with the 9th Circuit. Opening briefs were filed by the Plaintiffs in the 9th Circuit
on January 4, 2010. Amgen’s Opposition Brief will be filed on March 5, 2010. No date for oral argument has
been set.
Qui Tam Actions
A United States government filing in the Massachusetts District Court concerning the partially unsealed
complaint filed pursuant to the Qui Tam provisions of the Federal Civil False Claims Act and on behalf of 17
named states and the District of Columbia under their respective State False Claims Acts (the “Massachusetts
Qui Tam Action”) became public on or about May 7, 2009. The filing states that the relator in the Massachusetts
Qui Tam Action is a former Amgen employee. Further, the filing represents that, in addition to the Massachusetts
Qui Tam Action, there are currently nine other actions under the False Claim Act (“Qui Tam Actions”) pending
under seal against Amgen, including eight pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New
York and one pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. While the Massachu-
setts Qui Tam Action has been partially unsealed, the other nine Qui Tam Actions remain under seal and have
not been provided to Amgen. In the filing made public on May 7, 2009, the U.S. government represents that
these ten Qui Tam Actions allege that Amgen engaged in a wide variety of illegal marketing practices with re-
spect to various Amgen products and that these are joint civil and criminal investigations being conducted by a
wide variety and large number of federal and state agencies. The Massachusetts District Court held a status hear-
ing on May 18, 2009 and ordered that the government make a decision whether or not to intervene in the
Massachusetts Qui Tam Action by September 1, 2009.
On September 1, 2009, the U.S. government filed a notice of non-intervention and 14 states and the District
of Columbia filed notices of intervention. The Massachusetts District Court gave the states and the private relator
60 days from September 1 to file an amended complaint. Amgen filed a motion to unseal the record with regard
to the Massachusetts Qui Tam Action on October 23, 2009. On October 30, 2009, 14 states and the District of
Columbia filed an amended complaint in the Massachusetts District Court entitled The United States of America,
States of California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Texas and the Commonwealths of Massachusetts and Virgin-
ia and the District of Columbia, ex rel Kassie Westmoreland v. Amgen Inc., Integrated Nephrology Network,
AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group, ASD Healthcare and AmerisourceBergen Corporation. The relator, Kassie
Westmoreland, also filed a second amended complaint with the Massachusetts District Court on the same day.
The complaints allege violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and violations of state false claims act
statutes with regard to Amgen’s marketing of overfill in vials of Aranesp®and with regard to Amgen’s relation-
ship with the Integrated Nephrology Network, a group purchasing organization. The relator’s seconded amended
complaint also alleges that Amgen retaliated against and wrongfully terminated Westmoreland.
At a status conference on November 17, 2009, the Massachusetts District Court ruled on the motion to un-
seal, partially granting Amgen’s motion and ordering that the relator and states file all complaints by
December 17, 2009. The judge also set a trial date of January 2011. On January 20, 2010, the states of Florida
and Texas voluntarily dismissed their complaints against Amgen. On February 1, 2010, Amgen filed motions to
dismiss both the multi-state complaint and the relator’s complaint and a motion to stay and sever the relator’s
employment claims. On February 12, 2010, February 16, 2010 and February 18, 2010, respectively, the states of
New Hampshire, Louisiana and Nevada voluntarily dismissed their complaints against Amgen. Plaintiffs’
opposition pleadings were filed on February 22, 2010. On February 23, 2010, the state of Delaware voluntarily
dismissed its complaint against Amgen. Also, on February 23, 2010, the Massachusetts District Court granted
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