Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 2004 – LAWFUEL – Law, attorney, legal news – Arnold & Porter LLP announced today that Dara Corrigan, former Acting Inspector General at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will join the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as a partner. Since 1997, Ms. Corrigan’s career has focused predominantly on protecting the integrity of Medicare/Medicaid programs from health care fraud and abuse. Ms. Corrigan will serve as co-head of the firm’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Device practice group in the U.S.
“Dara brings significant government experience to the firm,” said Chairman Michael Sohn. “Her solid track record in the Office of the Inspector General has drawn praise from other federal agencies and Capitol Hill. Her expertise will strengthen the firm’s medical technology regulatory practice and expand the capabilities we offer to the pharmaceutical industry in such fields as regulation, product liability, antitrust, and intellectual property, both in the U.S. and Europe.”
In her recent positions at HHS (2003-2004), both as Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General and as Acting Inspector General, Ms. Corrigan managed a staff of 1,600 investigators, auditors, evaluators, and attorneys; testified before Congress on issues of fraud, waste, and abuse; and supervised investigations and audits of fraud involving all of the Department’s health care programs. She was Director for Program Integrity at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2003 where she served as the point of contact for all Medicare program integrity issues, oversaw the accuracy of all payment benefits, and led a staff of 75 employees. In her position as Deputy Chief Counsel for CMS (1999-2003), she provided counsel on program integrity issues, including nursing home quality of care, provider enrollment, and fraud and abuse matters. Previously, she was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia (1995-1999), where she worked on health care fraud and abuse issues, and was a trial attorney in the civil fraud section at the Department of Justice (1991-1995).
Ms. Corrigan earned a bachelor of arts degree from Baylor University and is a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School. She was named a “Star of the Bar” by the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia in 2003 and received an Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in 1999 and 1997.
Arnold & Porter has an established international presence in serving the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries. The U.S. regulatory practice, which will be jointly led by Ms. Corrigan and William Vodra, has several attorneys who are also physicians or trained scientists, several of whom have served in federal agencies. The group provides integrated services in all four core areas of importance: FDA law, product coverage and reimbursement under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, drug pricing and rebate requirements under multiple federal and state programs, and rules for prevention of fraud and abuse in the marketing of medical products. The group also assists in areas of legislation, unfair competition, medical data privacy, product liability risk assessment, and crisis management for embattled products. The U.S. group collaborates with Arnold & Porter’s European Regulatory and Product Liability practice group, based in London. Headed by Ian Dodds-Smith, this team has 14 professionals, including medical doctors and specialists who are recognized throughout the world for their unique product liability and EU regulatory experience in pharmaceuticals and other medical products.