Beasley Allen founding shareholder Jere L. Beasley speaks out on recent Alabama Supreme Court decision in state Medicaid Fraud lawsuits; asks Court to grant oral argument.

The Alabama Supreme Court refused the State of Alabama's request for oral argument in three of the most important cases to be heard by this Court in recent years.

In a shocking development, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed three of the State of Alabama's Medicaid fraud lawsuits that were on appeal. The court refused the state's multiple requests for oral argument in the cases, considered to be among the most important cases to be heard by this Court in recent years. To say the least, that was more than just unusual. The case against AstraZeneca, one of the defendants, had been on appeal for 13 months.

A Montgomery County jury found Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., guilty of Medicaid fraud on Feb. 24, and ordered the manufacturer to pay the State of Alabama $28.4 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages. Documents presented in the state's case against Sandoz indicate a long history of inflating prices on its generic drugs to increase its market share, defrauding the state's Medicaid system. During the trial, several critical documents were shown to jurors, which prove Sandoz intentionally defrauded the state.

MONTGOMERY, ALA. - (February 6, 2009)  Beasley Allen has re-filed the lawsuit on behalf of the City of Birmingham against various sub-prime lenders including CitiGroup, Inc., Citi Mortgage, Inc., Citi Financial, Inc., Argent Mortgage Company, LLC, and Countrywide. The suit contends that the companies have violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by participating in predatory lending practices. The lawsuit also alleges the lenders violated other state laws and have profited by their wrongdoing.

MONTGOMERY, ALA. (February 5, 2009) - Beasley Allen is preparing to represent the State of Alabama in its third trial in the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) litigation, in which pharmaceutical companies are accused of defrauding the state Medicaid system. The trial, which will begin Monday, Feb. 9, in Montgomery County Circuit Court, alleges that Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of provided inaccurate prices for Medicaid reimbursement, costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

Beasley Allen, along with Dagney Johnson-Walker, a Birmingham lawyer, filed suit in November on behalf of the City of Birmingham against various sub-prime lenders including Wells Fargo, Regions Bank and Countrywide. The suit contends that the companies have violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by participating in predatory lending practices. The lawsuit also alleges the lenders violated other state laws and have profited by their wrongdoing.

Montgomery, Ala. - Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., has filed a class action suit on behalf of property owners damaged by the Dec. 22, 2008 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant. Located 40 miles west of Knoxville, Tenn., the plant released 1.1 billion gallons of toxin-laden sludge into a rural neighborhood when a waste storage pond retaining wall failed. The suit is filed against the TVA, the nation's largest public utility, over potentially the most significant environmental disaster since the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

MONTGOMERY, ALA - Consumers who have cancer insurance policies with Central United Life Insurance Company have until June 3, 2008, to review the details of a class action lawsuit against the company and opt out if they wish to exclude themselves from the class.

Today, an Escambia County jury returned a $500,000 verdict against Alfa Mutual Insurance Company for fraud. Willie Hudson and his companion, Betty Jo Phillips, accused Alfa and its agent, Allen Walston, of misrepresenting information contained on Mr. Hudson's application for a farm owners/homeowners insurance policy.