July 28, 2020

A pharmaceutical company accused of paying illegal inducements to physicians has agreed to pay $3.5 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act.  In order to induce physicians to prescribe its newly-launched local analgesic, EXPAREL, Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. allegedly paid doctors kickbacks that were half-heartedly disguised as grant money for research.  In order to receive the so-called research grant, Pacira required EXPAREL to be placed on formulary at the physician’s institution, but did not document why such research was needed or follow up on research results.  The fraud was eventually exposed by a pharmacist in a qui tam suit; the pharmacist will receive $638,000 as part of the settlement.  USAO NJ; AG FL

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