The state of California’s Department of Insurance has announced the government is supporting a whistleblower lawsuit against Allergan Inc., one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and Adamas Pharmaceuticals. The lawsuit alleges that the companies fraudulently obtained patents for certain drugs in an effort to block competition from generic drug manufacturers and artificially inflate the prices of these drugs.

A team from Burns Charest, together with co-counsel, are representing patent attorney Zachary Silbersher in the case. In his suit filed in May 2018, Mr. Silbersher claims the companies’ actions violate the False Claims Act and various states’ parallel acts, and have caused federal and state governments to pay more for the brand-name medications Namenda XR and Namzaric, which are prescribed for the treatment of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

The Burns Charest team is led by Warren Burns, Chris Cormier and Jacob Gower.