FDA Fraud

October 1, 2018

Pharmaceutical distributor AmerisourceBergen Corporation will pay $625 million to the federal government and 43 states to settle claims that between 2001 and 2014 a pre-filled syringe program at one of its subsidiaries, Medical Initiatives, Inc., violated federal law.  Despite lacking the proper licensing and registration, MII opened FDA-approved sterile vials of oncology drugs, and in a non-sterile environment, pooled the medicine and transfered it into non-FDA approved pre-filled syringes which were then sold to oncology practices and physicians.  This practice allowed Amerisource to capture the "overfill" in the original FDA-approved sterile vials and produce a larger number of pre-filled syringes.  AmerisourceBergen also resolved claims that it provided unlawful kickbacks to physicians to induce them to purchase pre-filled syringes rather than vials.  The settlement resolved three qui tam actions initiated by whistleblowers Michael Mullen, Daniel Sypula, Kelly Hodge, and Omni Healthcare, Inc.; a payment of over $93 million will be made to relators. Previously, in September, 2017, AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group pleaded guilty to illegally distributing misbranded drugs and agreed to pay $260 million in criminal fines and forfeitures. USAO E.D.N.Y.;  NY

September 22, 2017

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Massachusetts-based subsidiary of Novelion Therapeutics Inc., agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to its prescription drug Juxtapid.  Specifically, Aegerion introduced Juxtapid into interstate commerce that was misbranded because, among other things, Aegerion failed to comply with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy.  Aegerion agreed to pay more than $35 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising out of violations of the False Claims Act and Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Aegerion former employees Michele Clarke, Tricia Mullins, and Kristi Winge.  They will receive a whistleblower award of $4.7 million from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ

September 5, 2017

Novo Nordisk Inc. agreed to pay $58.65 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act and Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by failing to comply with the FDA-mandated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for its Type II diabetes medication Victoza.  The New Jersey based pharmaceutical manufacturer is a subsidiary of Denmark’s Novo Nordisk A/S.  At the time of Victoza’s FDA approval in 2010, the FDA required a REMS to mitigate the potential risk in humans of a rare form of cancer called Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) associated with the drug. Under the REMS, Novo Nordisk was required to disclose to physicians the potential risk. If it failed to comply with these disclosure requirements, including requirements to communicate accurate risk information, the drug would be considered misbranded under the law.  According to the government, Novo Nordisk failed to comply with the REMS requirements, providing information to physicians that created the false or misleading impression that the Victoza REMS-required message was erroneous, irrelevant, or unimportant.  The allegations originated in several whistleblower lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The whistleblowers who brought these actions will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government’s recovery. Whistleblower Insider

July 15, 2016

A Minnesota federal court entered a permanent injunction against Kwong Tung Foods Inc. (dba Canton Foods) to prevent the distribution of adulterated noodles and sprouts.  The government charged the company with violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by preparing and packaging the company's food products under insanitary conditions.  DOJ