On May 16, 2012, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of RICO claims filed against Schering Plough based on allegations that the company engaged in off-label promotion of various oncology and Hepatitis drugs.  The RICO claims were brought by third-party payors and individuals who were alleged prescribed the drugs at issue for off-label uses.  The District of New Jersey concluded that neither category of plaintiff had standing to bring the RICO claims because they had not sufficiently demonstrated that the alleged off-label marketing activities caused them injury-in-fact.  The Third Circuit affirmed on appeal, emphasizing that the plaintiffs failed to establish the requisite causal connection between the alleged marketing scheme and the decisions of individual doctors to prescribe drugs for off-label uses.  With respect to the third-party payors, the Court held that the plaintiffs "must allege facts sufficient to show that [the drug] which it paid for was prescribed to its members for ineffective off-label uses because of Schering's alleged misconduct.  There are no averments that come close to satisfying this standard."  (emphasis in original).  To read the Third Circuit's opinion in In re: Schering Plough Corp., click here.  Peter Leininger