July 1, 2020

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation will pay a total of $678 million to resolve a case brought by a whistleblower, Oswald Bilotta, alleging that between 2002 and 2011 the pharmaceutical company violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by providing doctors with cash payments and luxury travel and meals to induce them to prescribe Novartis cardiovascular and diabetes drugs reimbursed by federal healthcare programs.  The total settlement consists of $591.4 million as federal FCA damages, $48.2 million as state FCA damages for Medicaid false claims submitted to 28 states and the District of Columbia, and $38.4 million as forfeiture under the Anti-Kickback Statute.  The whistleblower award has not yet been determined.  In addition to the monetary settlement, Novartis entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement obligating the company to, among other things, significantly reduce its volume and spending on paid speaker programs.  DOJ; USAO SDNY; CA AG; MI AG; NY AG

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,