March 20, 2006
Cell Therapeutics disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that a private party has made claims against it under seal on behalf of the government. This is the language frequently used when a whistle-blower has a filed a suit under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.
Cell Therapeutics first said last summer that it was being investigated for promotion of off-label uses of its leukemia treatment Trisenox. Physicians may prescribe drugs for uses other than those approved by the Food and Drug Administration but it is illegal for drug companies to promote those unapproved uses.
For more details, see the Seattle Times of March 17, 2006.