Cheryl Eckard, whose $96 million whistleblower award is the largest one made to an individual in U.S. history, first learned about Getnick & Getnick in a trade publication she read for her job at GlaxoSmithKline PLC.
Eckard, a former GSK global quality-assurance manager, eventually filed a case that exposed the company’s manufacturing problems at its now-closed plant in Cidra, Puerto Rico. The False Claims Act case shepherded by New York-based Getnick ultimately netted a $750 million settlement with the federal government. (Eckard’s take was 22% of the federal government’s pre-interest share of the deal, which was $436.4 million.) That was the first significant settlement of a criminal case alleging that a pharmaceutical company introduced adulterated drugs for delivery into interstate commerce.
