A Life-Changing Question in Freehold

In August 2011, at a patient education event in Freehold, New Jersey, a young mother with multiple sclerosis approached pharmaceutical sales rep Lisa Pratta. The woman, walking with a cane and recently diagnosed with lymphoma, asked whether the drug Pratta sold, Acthar, could help her.

I couldn't say anything, Pratta recalled

This encounter would mark the beginning of a nearly decade-long journey that transformed Pratta from a high-performing sales representative into an undercover whistleblower, risking her livelihood, safety, and anonymity to expose corruption ⁽³⁾ within Questcor Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Acthar.

From Dream Job to Nightmare

Lisa Pratta joined Questcor in 2010, eager to help patients and earn a stable income to support her son, who has special needs. At first, the company’s signature drug, Acthar, seemed promising—a treatment for autoimmune conditions, especially multiple sclerosis, that could help patients “walk again, and talk again,” as Pratta described it.

But the deeper she got into the job, the darker the picture became.

“Questcor made more money when it was prescribed incorrectly.”

Despite FDA guidance recommending two- to three-week treatment plans, sales reps were trained and incentivized to push an unproven five-day regimen. The company offered no scientific backing, just aggressive goals and even more aggressive rewards.

A Price Tag Skyrockets: $40 to $39,000

One of the most shocking aspects of the Acthar story is its astronomical price increase. In 2000, a vial of Acthar cost $40. By 2019, it had soared to $39,000 — a 97,000% increase.

“The greed had just taken over. They took doctors on scuba diving trips and bought their wives clothes. One guy bought his doctor an Armani suit and expensed it to Questcor. - And I’m going to TJ Maxx to buy my shoes.”

Sales reps were earning millions, and doctors who prescribed Acthar were richly rewarded. The drug wasn’t being sold to save lives; it was being pushed to inflate corporate profits.

Living a Double Life

Haunted by her conscience and encouraged by fellow sales rep Pete Keller, Pratta agreed to become a “relator”, a whistleblower under the False Claims Act, secretly feeding evidence to attorneys and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Her covert efforts included documenting sales meetings, patient programs, and casual conversations that revealed widespread illegal practices ⁽¹⁾.

But being on the inside came with immense personal cost.

“I was a single parent, mother of a special needs son, drowning in debt.
The last thing I needed was to be fired and homeless.”

Lissa Pratta becomes emotional in an interview given to "More Perfect Union", she reveals her experience with bribery in the pharmaceutical industry and details her battle against a powerful and seemingly untouchable pharma giant. ⁽²⁾

Paranoia and Surveillance

Pratta became hyper-aware of her surroundings. After researching other whistleblowers, she grew fearful of retaliation.

“I checked to see if anyone had been murdered.You know, a mysterious accident or a car blowing up.”

She installed a dashcam and constantly looked over her shoulder. The pressure was immense, but she kept going. In January 2012, the DOJ launched a formal investigation into Questcor.

Fired for the Wrong Reasons

Despite all her undercover work, Pratta wasn’t fired for being a whistleblower. In 2017, she was dismissed after reporting her abusive manager to HR.

“Ironically, I wasn’t fired for being a double agent feeding the DOJ.
Instead, they got rid of me for daring to speak out.”

After Questcor was acquired by Mallinckrodt, pressure ramped up to increase sales even more. Ethics plummeted further.

Justice, Interrupted

In March 2019, the DOJ filed a 100-page lawsuit against Mallinckrodt for illegal marketing of Acthar, bribery of physicians, and defrauding federal health programs. Pratta’s name was included in the filing, exposing her publicly for the first time.

“I didn’t mind that my former bosses knew.I just wish I could’ve seen their faces when they put it all together. I hoped they felt like their lives were suddenly out of their control, the way the Acthar patients felt.”

But victory proved bittersweet. Mallinckrodt filed for bankruptcy, pausing all lawsuits.

Collateral Damage

One New Jersey MS patient, whose union had paid over $26,000 for a single dose, filed a class action suit. Because Pratta was now publicly known and a New Jersey resident, she was named as a defendant alongside the corporations.

Though the case against her was dismissed, it left her with $42,000 in attorney fees and no financial safety net.

A Whistleblower’s Reward

Mallinckrodt settled the DOJ (Department of Justice) suit in 2022, agreeing to pay $26.3 million, far less than if the case had gone to trial. The sum was also split into installments over eight years, dramatically reducing Pratta’s whistleblower share.

“In reality, if I averaged it all out, it was as if I’d just stayed employed another ten years instead of losing my job.”

A Must-Read

Lisa Pratta’s memoir, False Claims: One Insider’s Impossible Battle Against Big Pharma Corruption, releases on June 3, 2025, through HarperCollins. It’s more than a personal story — it’s a warning to the public about the cost of unchecked pharmaceutical greed.

Lisa Pratta’s story is a rare and raw look at what happens when one woman decides to risk everything, her job, her finances, her safety, for what’s right.

References:

1. New York Post, “How One Woman Took on Big Pharma — and Mostly Won,” New York Post, June 1, 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/06/01/lifestyle/how-one-woman-took-on-big-pharma-and-mostly-won/.

2. Lisa Pratta, “Lisa Pratta,” LisaPratta.com, accessed June 13, 2025, https://www.lisapratta.com.

3. Lisa Pratta, False Claims: One Insider’s Impossible Battle Against Big Pharma Corruption (New York: HarperCollins, 2025), ISBN 978‑0‑06‑337110‑1.

(Rh/Dr. Anjaly KTK/MSM)