美国连环举报人再获巨额报酬
A Louisiana doctor who has brought a series of whistleblower lawsuits against pharmaceuticals companies is in line for a windfall from Pfizer that would take his total payout from fraud settlements close to $100m.
对制药公司提起一连串举报人诉讼的一名路易斯安那州医生将从辉瑞(Pfizer)得到丰厚付款，这将使他从欺诈和解得到的总付款接近1亿美元。
William LaCorte was one of two whistleblowers whose lawsuits resulted in Pfizer yesterday agreeing to pay the US justice department $784.6m to settle allegations that its Wyeth subsidiary overcharged government Medicaid programmes for a heartburn drug.
威廉拉科尔特(William LaCorte)是两名举报人之一，他们提起的诉讼导致辉瑞昨日同意向美国司法部支付7.846亿美元，以了结相关指控；此前辉瑞的子公司惠氏(Wyeth)被指对一种胃灼热药物向美国政府的Medicaid医疗补助计划收费过高。
The 67-year-old practising medic is likely to receive about $59m of the settlement under US laws aimed at encouraging whistleblowing — adding to his $38m from similar lawsuits.
根据旨在鼓励举报的美国法律，这位67岁的执业医生很可能从和解款项中分得大约5900万美元，此前他已从类似诉讼中获得3800万美元。
The latest payout will reinforce his status as one of America’s most prolific serial whistleblowers and fuel debate over a system that entitles people to receive up to 30 per cent of federal settlements resulting from cases they helped instigate.
最新付款将夯实他作为美国最高产连环举报者之一的地位，并给围绕这一制度的辩论提供素材——按照这一制度，人们有资格从他们帮助发起的案件中分得联邦和解款项的至多30%。
Dr LaCorte sued Wyeth in 2008 under the US False Claims Act, which allows people to file lawsuits on behalf of the government against companies or individuals for defrauding taxpayers.
拉科尔特医生在2008年根据美国《虚假申报法》(False Claims Act)起诉惠氏；该法允许人们代表政府对欺诈纳税人的公司或个人提起诉讼。
Wyeth was accused of illegally denying Medicaid, the public-funded health insurance scheme for low-income patients, hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates that were available to non-government customers for its Protonix heartburn drug.
Medicaid是公共资助的医疗保险计划，面向低收入患者。对于其胃灼热药物Protonix，惠氏被指向非政府客户提供返点，却未向Medicaid提供返点，涉案金额达数亿美元。
Dr LaCorte told the Financial Times that, while whistleblowers could theoretically receive up to 30 per cent of settlements, a more typical payout was 15 per cent. In the Wyeth case, this would be shared with another whistleblower, Lauren Kieff, a former sales representative for AstraZeneca, a rival of Pfizer’s.
拉克特医生告诉英国《金融时报》，尽管举报人理论上可以分得和解款项的最多30%，但他们通常情况下分得的份额为15%。在惠氏的案子，这笔钱将与另一名举报人——劳伦·基夫(Lauren Kieff)——分享，后者曾是辉瑞竞争对手阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)的销售代表。
Pfizer said it was pleased to have “reached an agreement in principle” to settle the Protonix dispute.
辉瑞表示，很高兴“达成原则协议”，了结围绕Protonix的纠纷。
