A federal judge in Massachusetts has sanctioned Manhattan plaintiffs firm Milberg for orchestrating an “elaborate scheme of deceptive conduct,” and dismissed a plaintiff's qui tam action.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV found that, at Milberg's behest, a physician and medical researcher conducted a fraudulent “medical research” survey of doctors concerning their prescription of the drug Namenda to Medicare patients.

“The Milberg attorneys devised and implemented an elaborate scheme of misrepresentation and deceit under the guise of a legitimate medical research study,” Saylor wrote. “The scheme was intended to—and did—intrude on the physician-patient relationship and induce physicians to disclose confidential patient information.”