Novartis Considers Appealing $1.5 Million Whistleblower Verdict

Novartis is hinting that it will appeal a New Jersey jury’s verdict awarding $1.5 million to a former executive who alleged that the company created a bogus drug study to disguise kickbacks to a leading drug distributor.

Jurors in Morris County deliberated for two days before coming back with a verdict that Novartis had broken New Jersey’s whistleblower protection laws when it fired Min Amy Guo in a dispute over a breast cancer study involving Novartis’ Affinitor (everolimus).

The jury awarded Guo $1.8 million in damages, but it also found that she had violated company policy in her handling of the dispute and awarded Novartis damages. Guo will net $1.5 million if the verdict stands.